Pen-Pals & Postscripts
by McGladiator
Summary: Montgomery volunteers Kate to be a pen-pal for a student of local fifth grade class as part of their career exploration project. One guess as to who the kid she gets paired with is: "He held it out to Kate and she took the small school photo from him. Her red hair was long and a little unruly. Freckles spotted her nose and she wore a huge smile that lit up her whole face." AU
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: DISCLAIMER: don****'****t own it**

xx

"Alright, on my count."

Her partners stared at her, guns drawn and at the ready. Kate gave a little nod to signal the beginning of a countdown.

"3… 2…"

They all silently counted one, and Esposito was the one to draw back and strike the door. His heel landed heavy near the handle and the locking mechanism gave way almost instantaneously.

The apartment was big by New York City standards, but it wasn't so big it took them long to clear each room.

Ryan and Esposito each called out muffled, but distinct, "clears," as she made her way to the last room off of the adjoining Jack and Jill suite.

She stopped to listen at the door. Maybe the apartment wasn't completely empty like they'd been beginning to think.

Kate caught Ryan's attention out of the corner of her eye. _Cover me. _

She pushed the doors open and the man inside froze. Gun still leveled on his chest, she carefully edged her way towards him.

"Joshua Daniels, you are under-"

The man sprung into action. He leapt towards the window that opened onto an old and rusted fire escape.

Kate sighed heavily and rolled her eyes as a bemused Ryan looked on. She stowed her gun in its holster. Joshua was still struggling out of the window, trying to wriggle his hips through the stuck window.

She grabbed both his ankles and gave a forceful pull. His flailing limbs and the 50+ pounds he had on her made it difficult. Esposito walked into the room in time to see Kate give a look back over her shoulder.

"You guys going to just stand there, or are you going to help me?"

Esposito looked at Ryan and they both smiled as they gave a little shrug.

"We like watching you struggle," Esposito said without an ounce of conviction. He smiled at her, the three of them finding humor as their perp flailed around uselessly, hanging half in and half out of the window.

He ambled over and he took hold of one leg as Kate held the other.

"Count of three?"

"1…"

"2…"

On three, they both pulled back and Joshua Daniels tumbled back through the window, hitting his head hard on its bottom edge.

Kate and Esposito looked at each other, and immediately tried to hold in the laughter. They shouldn't be laughing; it wasn't funny… it really wasn't.

Kate stepped over his prostrate body and pinned his hands behind his back. She held out her hand and Ryan stepped forward to give her a pair of handcuffs.

"Joshua Daniels," she said again. "You are under arrest for the murder of Molly Simmons."

After she'd cuffed him properly, she stepped away and allowed Esposito to pull him to his feet. Esposito began to read him his rights as he continued to proclaim his innocence.

"You have the right to remain silent," Esposito began, leading him out of the room. "Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law-"

His voice faded until they couldn't hear him anymore.

"Can you believe that guy?" Ryan asked, shaking his head. He looked back at the window and took in the little more than foot and a half gap. "Thought he could fit through _that?_ What did he think he was 50 pounds lighter?"

Kate chuckled as she made a face and imitated his flapping arms.

Ryan laughed out loud and they made their way to their cruisers down on the street.

"It's a good thing no one can see us when we're making arrests," Ryan mused.

"Why?" Kate questioned, trotting down the stairs. "Because we're completely unprofessional?"

"Well… I wouldn't say _completely…"_

Just then, they watched as Esposito helped a still resisting Joshua into the back of the cruiser.

"Seriously, man. Stop making everyone's life harder-"

"I'm innocent!"

"Yeah, yeah… We're all innocent," Espo said as he shut the door.

He looked to Ryan and Kate.

"I vote Kate drives him back-"

'What? Why?"

"All his yammering, it's giving me a headache."

"I don't think so, bud. Nice try."

Kate looked from Esposito to Ryan.

"So, I'll see you both back at the precinct?"

Esposito started to protest, but Kate quickly cut him off.

"I'll stop and get coffee…"

His protestations stopped and his pinched face immediately slackened.

"From that one place? With those really good doughnuts?"

"Seriously?" she asked.

"What?" He raised his shoulders defensively.

"I know we're cops, but it doesn't mean we have to live up to the stereotypes."

"Oh, don't even play. You know you like them, too."

Kate grinned, "Yeah, yeah. Alright. So, the normal order and a dozen doughnuts? Any special requests?"

Ryan and Esposito both shook their heads, and Kate raised her eyebrows.

"Really? Because I don't want anyone whining when I get back about not getting sprinkles or chocolate cake."

"Whatever's freshest," Esposito said.

She started towards her car which was parked across the street.

"You got it. See you both at the precinct."

xx

Parking was hard to come by and when she got inside she saw why: apparently, this coffee shop was the place to be on a Friday morning. It was _packed_.

She didn't much care for overly crowded places and considered going to another place instead. The only thing that stopped her was she herself had started craving one of their doughnuts.

She pulled out her phone while she waited in line. The clamor of the coffee shop was perhaps worse background noise than Ryan and Espo when they got to bickering, or, as they like to call it, bantering.

She scrolled through emails. God, she really needed to unsubscribe from some of these, she found herself thinking as she moved the first 20 to the trash.

"Excuse me," a voice said behind her.

"Oh, sorry" Kate said as she looked up and realized the cashier was waiting on her.

She gave a fleeting look over her shoulder and smiled thank you at the man.

"Sorry about that," she said again. She looked up at the menu to double check she was ordering the right coffees.

"Can I get one of your house coffees and one of- actually, make that two house coffees and a green tea… and then a dozen assorted doughnuts."

"Any preference?"

She shook her head, "Just whatever's freshest."

He punched in her order and recited it to the workers bustling behind him. Turning back to her, he said, "$18.98."

Kate took out her billfold and thumbed through her cash. She handed him a twenty and told him to keep the change.

As soon as she'd paid, Kate stepped off to the side to wait for her order. Her phone vibrated in her hand and she looked down to see a message from Espo.

_What's taking so long? Don't eat all the doughnuts-_

She started to tap out a sarcastic reply when a hand tapped her shoulder once again.

"I think your order's up-"

Her head snapped up to see one of the employees holding out a box of doughnuts over the counter and nudging a drink tray towards her.

The same man who had alerted her of her own order, followed her up to get his own. He watched her juggle the box, the drinks and her phone.

"You got it?" He asked, watching the drinks slide across the top of the doughnut box.

The box and the drinks balanced in one hand precariously as she dropped her phone in her purse with the other. It was much easier to handle with two hands.

"Got it," she said, looking up to smile.

His smile mirrored hers and he wove between people to follow her to the door. He watched her struggle for a moment before stepping in and reaching across her to open the door.

"Thanks," she said, breathily.

She got a good look at him for the first time, and he seemed to size her up as well. He thought he saw a flicker of recognition in her eyes, but it disappeared too fast.

"Sure you don't need any help?" He asked again.

"I think I can manage.. I appreciate it, though."

"Of course." They held each other's gaze for a moment. "Have a good day."

"You too."

She thought of him during the five minute drive back to the precinct, but as with most brief interactions, the encounter faded until it bled into all the others.

Kate made it back to the precinct in record time. The boys would be happy that their doughnuts were still fresh enough that the glaze was warm and the dough still soft. The sweet bakery smell filled the small elevator and made her mouth water in anticipation.

When the doors opened, it didn't take long at all for people to start commenting on how good it smelled. She felt slightly guilty for not having thought to get enough for everyone.

The boys nearly tripped over themselves standing up from their desks when they saw her. Like children, they pushed to reach her first, one lunging for the drinks and the other, for the box of doughnuts.

Before she could reclaim either, the door to Captain Montgomery's office opened.

"Beckett."

She looked up, her demeanor sobering.

"Yes, Captain."

He did a double take at her two partners who argued over a chocolate frosted doughnut.

"Are those from Sandra's, down the block?"

"Yes, they are."

"Detectives-"

They're bickering ceased as they looked up at their Captain who wandered over. Ryan held out the box and Captain Montgomery perused his options. He looked at the chocolate glazed doughnut Esposito had two fingers pinched around. He took it from his detective, holding it in the palm of his hand to prevent further mutilation to the frosting.

With his other hand, Captain Montgomery pulled out a white envelope and handed it to Kate.

"This came for you today."

She looked at, turning it over in her hands to look at the uneven handwriting she didn't recognize.

It was addressed to _Miss Kate Beckett._

Their own curiosity piqued, both Ryan and Esposito set down the tray of drinks and box of doughnuts. They each plucked out their next choice and crowded her on either side.

"Jeez, nosey much?" She asked.

She opened the envelope carefully and pulled out two pieces of paper. The first one was typed and the second was handwritten on lined notebook paper.

"Who's it from?" Ryan asked.

Kate scanned the letter quickly, jumping to the bottom.

"It's from an elementary school…" She murmured, as she went back to read the letter in full.

Esposito reached for the second piece of paper.

"Hey, it's from a student! Is it like a mentoring thing?"

"No," she said, shaking her head. "It's for a project. It's like a pen-pal arrangement, only they've matched the kids based on careers they're interested in. It's for two and half months," she continued reading. "And then at the end of the two and half months, the class takes a field trip and we meet face to face with the kids."

"Huh," Ryan said, reaching to take the letter from Esposito. "When I was in school and we had pen-pals, but it was always with students from other schools. That's pretty cool."

Esposito snatched the paper from Kate's hand and read it over himself.

"Hey, how come Ryan and I don't get one?"

Captain Montgomery popped the last bite of doughnut into his mouth and brushed the crumbs from his hand.

"You hardly do your paperwork as it is, I couldn't see you writing letters every week-"

"Every week?" Kate asked. "That seems a bit… excessive."

"Are you complaining?"

"No… I… No, sir."

She took back the printed letter from Esposito and folded it back along its creases. When she went to slip it back into the envelope, a smaller piece of paper fluttered out and fell to the floor.

Esposito leaned down to grab it.

"Aw. Is this her? She's pretty cute."

He held it out to Kate and she took the small school photo from him. Her red hair was long and a little unruly. Freckles spotted her nose and she wore a huge smile that lit up her whole face.

She was pretty cute.

With newfound interest, Kate reached for the handwritten letter.

_Hi Miss Kate, _

_My name is Alexis Harper. I am in Ms. Blake's fifth grade class. I am nine years old, but I will be ten in January. _

_Ms. Blake says we should tell our pen-pals a little bit about ourselves. I don't know what to say. I live with my mom. She's an actress, but I don't want to be one. I think I want to be a writer, or maybe a teacher. I don't have any pets. If I could have a pet, I would want a dog, but I like cats, too. I just think dogs are more fun. Are you a dog person or a cat person?_

_My favorite color is purple. My favorite subject is reading. I read a lot. I've read all the Harry Potter Books, and The Hunger Games. Lately, I've been reading the Inkheart series. Have you heard of it? Do you read a lot? _

_I am really excited to have a pen-pal. I've never had one before, but my friend Paige says she has, though sometimes she makes stuff up. We had to draw names out of hats to get our pen-pals. Everyone wanted to trade with me because they think you have the coolest job. _

_What is your job like? Is it like on TV or in the movies? What do you have to do? How long have you been a police officer? Do you like it? Is it ever scary? _

_I hope I didn't ask too many questions._

_Your friend, _

_Alexis_

_PS Thank you for being my pen-pal. _

Kate looked up, a smile on her face. Her personality might be as cute as her school picture.

She began warming to the idea. This could be fun.

**xx**

**So, I got the idea for this story stuck in my head after a dream I had. I'd like to continue it, but I might take it down if there doesn't seem to be any interest in it. The plan is for it to be a fairly light and fun story, maybe short, maybe long.. I don't know. **

**Let me know what you think?**


	2. Chapter 2

Later that night, Kate settled into the corner of her couch, a pen, paper, and book in hand. She pulled the throw off the back of the couch, and she tucked her legs beneath her before pulling the blanket over. She took out the white envelope from where she'd stowed it between the pages of the hard copied novel.

She muted the TV she'd had on for background noise and started to reread Alexis' letter again. Kate placed a piece of lined paper on the cover of her book and stared at it. Her pen tapped an indecisive rhythm to match her indecisive thoughts. She took out the printed letter from the teacher, hoping for more direction. Aside from explaining the general idea behind this project, there wasn't much of anything.

She didn't know what to say. She addressed the letter and got as far as the first sentence before she stopped. She scratched out what she'd written, and once again stared blankly at the sheet of lined paper.

_When was this due?_

xx

As soon as the bus doors opened Monday morning, Alexis bounded out, pulling Paige with her to their classroom.

"Why can't we just ask her when class starts?" Paige wanted to know as she dragged her feet.

Alexis didn't answer, but continued pulling her along to Ms. Blake's classroom. She opened the door and stuck her head in. Ms. Blake, who was sitting at her computer, turned to see who it was.

"Alexis!" She greeted brightly.

Alexis smiled as she stepped in. Paige reluctantly followed.

"Good morning, Ms. Blake!"

"And to you two as well. Did you girls have a good weekend?"

Alexis' smile dimmed, almost to subtle to notice.

"It was okay."

She and her mom were supposed to go the movies, but her mom had forgotten and made other plans.

"Hey, I was just wondering if we get letters from our pen-pals today."

"Oh," Ms. Blake started to say. "I wouldn't think so- we just sent the letters last Tuesday, I doubt they would have received them by Friday- Thursday at the earliest… Even if they got out their own letters by Saturday, I don't think they'll get here before Wednesday."

Ms. Blake watched her face fall.

"I know, I know. You all are _very _excited. Who did you get as your pen-pal again?"

As a class, they had all decided the jobs they were most interested in: police officers, doctors, veterinarians, teachers, lawyers, the list went on and on. After she did some research and reached out to old friends, and friends of friends, she wrote the names and occupations on popsicle sticks and let the kids draw from a jar.

Some of the kids traded, and swapped popsicle sticks, which she had allowed so long as both parties agreed, and some refused to trade at all.

"Her name is Kate- she's a detective!"

Ms. Blake smiled. As a teacher, she'd always looked for ways to make school and learning as fun as possible, and when she'd first conceived of the pen-pal idea, she knew the kids would love it.

And love it they did.

"Very cool… and who did you get, Paige?"

Paige shrugged. She'd already forgotten their name.

"I don't remember their name. I think they're a baker or a chef or something."

"No," Alexis said, looking at her friend. "Remember, you traded with Mason?"

"Oh, yeah!" Paige exclaimed, brightening. "Yeah, now I have a news reporter!"

"Well, you both sound happy with your pen-pals…"

Alexis and Paige both nodded, Paige's earlier indifference melting into genuine excitement.

Ms. Blake rose from her seat and grabbed a small stack of papers she needed to copy before class actually started.

"Alright, girls, I need to go run off some copies," she said, starting to usher them out.

"I'll see you two in a little bit."

Paige and Alexis raced to the playground where their other friends were waiting around the swings. The group fell into excited chatter about their pen-pals and what they imagined they would be like.

xx

Tuesday came and went, and like Ms. Blake had thought, no letters had arrived.

Wednesday came and some letters came. Ms. Blake made the decision to hold onto them until she'd received all the letters.

Wednesday went.

By Thursday, the kids were restless with anticipation. After lunch, Ms. blake announced she had all the letters, but would be holding onto them until after their reading quiz. Her class gave a collective sigh and there were groans of protest as she handed out the quizzes.

Alexis raced through her quiz and, as per usual, was the first one done.

She took her paper to Ms. Blake's desk and bounced impatiently on her toes as she waited for her teacher to find her letter. When she was handed the envelope, her face broke into an ear splitting grin.

She took it back to her desk, admiring the handwriting on the envelope. In the upper left hand corner was scrawled in cursive. In the center, above her teacher's name and the school address, was Alexis' first and last name.

_Alexis Harper_

Alexis looked around her, and those nearest watched with curiosity as she carefully opened the envelope.

She was not disappointed.

The letter was three times as long as hers had been and covered the front and back of a sheet of paper.

_Alexis,_

After her name, the cursive smoothed into neat print.

_I'm not sure where to start, so I guess I will start as you did. _

_Hi. My name is Katherine Beckett, but usually people call me Kate, or Beckett. I am a detective at the 12th precinct. I don't normally tell people my age, but since you're my pen-pal…. I will be 32 this November. _

_To answer your first question, I was more of a dog person growing up and now I would say I'm more of a cat person, but I like both just fine. _

Kate had drawn a smiley face after that sentence. Its smile was a bit lopsided and its eyes a little uneven. It made Alexis smile.

_My job is tough, but rewarding, and it isn't quite as action packed as TV shows and movies would have you believe. A lot of it is just paperwork! It can be dangerous, but it isn't often. I also have two partners and we help to look out for each other. This will be my eighth year as a police officer, my fifth as a detective. _

_There, I think I've answered all of your questions. Now I guess I can ask a few of my own. _

_Why is reading your favorite subject? Mine was also reading, by the way. I used to get in trouble for reading during math or other lessons. I like getting lost in other worlds. _

Alexis' smile widened. She liked reading for precisely the same reason and no matter how sneaky she thought she was being, Ms. Blake always caught her reading when she wasn't supposed to.

She read on.

_History was a close second. Do you learn history in elementary school? I don't remember, maybe that was more middle school._

_Of course I'm familiar with the Harry Potter books (I've read them), and I've heard of the Hunger Games, but I haven't read those. It's a movie now, isn't it? I've never heard of the Inkheart series. What's it about? Is it any good? And yes, to answer your question. I do read a lot, or I used to. Sometimes work gets too busy and I don't have as much time as I wish I did. _

_You said that you wanted to be a writer. You know what they say about good readers? They oftentimes make the best writers._

_Well, Alexis. I'm not sure what else to say, or write, rather. Feel free to ask me as many questions as you like in your next letter, or maybe tell me more about yourself. What are your hobbies? What are you learning in school? Do you play any sports, etc. etc. Anything you can think of. _

_I've never had a pen-pal before either, so this is new for both of us. Have a great rest of the week in school, and enjoy your weekend! _

_Your friend, _

_Kate_

_PS Thank you for being MY pen pal. _

Alexis looked up with a wide smile. As she had read, many of her other classmates had also turned in their quizzes in exchange for their own letters and wore similar smiles as they read their pen-pals' replies.

The hushed whispers steadily grew louder as everyone finished their quiz and started wandering around the room to lean over their friends' desks and compare letters.

Alexis couldn't wait to write back.

xx

**A/N: I appreciate all the support you guys have shown for the story! As some of you noted, Alexis does in fact live ****exclusively with her mother. I think Rick's identity is so closely tied with being a father that I thought it would be interesting to explore a world in which he didn't have that defining relationship and didn't even know he had a daughter only to find out later that he did. I don't know, that's just what I'd been thinking. **

**Let me know what you think in regards to that idea because it's still early enough to rework it so she actually does live with/know her dad. **

**Thank you for reading :) **


	3. Chapter 3

Alexis was hard at work on her response when the school bell rang, signaling the end of the day. Alexis scribbled furiously to finish her sentence before shoving it in her folder, and shoving her folder inside her backpack.

"Are you sending these tomorrow, Ms. Blake?"

Alexis paused at the door, waiting to hear Ms. Blake's answer to Hayley's question.

"You guys are going to have the weekend to work on these," she told Hayley before she raised her voice for the other students still inside, or on their way out the door. "Tomorrow, I am going to go over a few things you will need to include in your letters back to your pen-pals. if you would like, you may start, or continue if you've already started, your letters, but please bring them to class tomorrow and _please_," she emphasized, "do _not_ seal them in envelopes yet."

The students lingered long enough to hear these directions before they poured out the door to join the stream of other students eager to get home.

On the bus, Paige and Alexis pulled out their letters and swapped.

"Your seems so nice," Paige said after several minutes.

"Yours does too," Alexis immediately replied. And she did, she just wasn't as engaging as Kate had been in her own.

Paige scrunched her face as she reached for hers back.

"Mine didn't write as much."

Alexis took hers back, admiring the neat handwriting and time Kate must have taken as she did.

"Well… Maybe yours was just really busy…"

Paige made another face. "Maybe," she said, sounding unconvinced. "Wanna trade?"

"No way!" Alexis exclaimed and Paige smiled amiably. She hadn't thought so, but it was worth a try.

Alexis folded her letter neatly and placed it in her bag.

They both bounced in their seat as the bus hit a pothole.

_"_Hey, so…" Paige started to say. "You want to come over this weekend? My mom's taking me to the Hampton's and she said I could invite a friend."

"I can't this weekend."

Paige let out a disappointed sigh as Alexis went on to explain.

"I'm going to my dad's this weekend, remember?"

"Oh, right," Paige said, her disappointment easily shifting to understanding. "I forgot."

She, a lot of the time, had trouble keeping up with her best friend's inconsistent schedule. It changed so often with both of her parents being particularly involved in their given careers. It made Paige feel a little sorry for Alexis.

"Are you guys doing anything fun?"

Alexis shrugged.

"I don't know. He just got back from California to visit his friend's movie set. He said we'd go see a play, but I don't know if he'll remember."

"I'm sure he will," Paige said confidently. "Your dad always keeps his promises."

Alexis nodded as she thought. "Yeah… he probably will."

The bus lurched to a halt and Paige perked up. This was her stop.

"See you tomorrow, Al."

"Bye, Paige."

Alexis spent the better remainder of the bus ride writing her letter in her head. She imagined saying a lot of things she knew she wouldn't write. Random things, thoughtful things, things she kept to herself.

She had no face to tie to the letters, no person to envision to read her her words, so as she wrote the letter in her head, it became a lot like a personal journal entry.

As much as she'd thought of what she'd write, by the time she'd gotten off the bus, had dinner, done homework, showered, and crawled into bed later that night, all she had was:

_Dear Miss Kate,_

The couple of sentences she had written down at school had been crossed out. Writing the letter in her head had been much easier than putting the words down on paper. Once they were down, there was a degree of self-consciousness over what she'd written. She fell asleep composing endless variations of a simple letter.

xx

As she'd done the day before, Ms. Blake saved "pen-pal time' for the end of the day.

"Okay, so," she began. "Some of you have already started on your second letter to your pen-pal and that's awesome- I'm so happy to see you guys excited about this project… But, I would like for you all to include in this one something besides just facts about yourself and what you like to do outside of class. Who here can tell me what the purpose of this project is again? Why are we writing to our pen-pals?"

Matt's hand was the first one up.

"To learn about their jobs!"

Ms. Blake's head bobbed. "That's right. Very good! To learn about their jobs… Now remember, you all will have to write a little paper about your pen-pals at the end of these two months and present to the class. You can use a powerpoint, a poster board, anything you want-" she paused. "within reason. Be creative and remember to have a little fun with this. Many of your pen-pals have already emailed or reached out to tell me how much they enjoyed your first letters, and how much they look forward to getting to know you."

Several hands went up.

"Did my pen-pal email you?"

"Yeah, what about mine? What'd they say?"

The class began to talk over each other, all wanting to know what their pen-pal had said about them. Ms. Blake soon regretted mentioning it in the first place.

She called the class to attention, and as soon as they settled down, she began walking around and passing out papers.

"These are just some ideas of what you can ask your pen-pal. You don't _have_ to use all of these- you don't have to use _any!_ I just want you to get thinking."

The class started getting out their letters from their folders. The room grew increasingly quiet until only the scratching of pencils on paper could be heard.

Alexis pulled out Kate's letter and then put her paper beside it.

When nothing came to her, she started doodling along the margin. She looked up to find Ms. Blake standing over her desk. Alexis tried to cover the fact she hadn't written anything when most everyone around her had at least a couple sentences down.

"How's it going?"

"Good," Alexis lied.

"Can I see what you have?"

Alexis slowly uncovered her paper to reveal the largely blank page.

"Are you just thinking right now?" Ms. Blake asked.

Alexis nodded, and tapped her pencil as she stared down at the page before her.

"Don't overthink it, Alexis. It isn't supposed to be hard."

Alexis nodded again and Ms. Blake wandered down the aisle to the next desk.

_Don't overthink it, _Alexis told herself. _Just write_.

Once she started, she didn't stop until the bell rang.

This time when the bell sounded, Alexis didn't bother to finish her train of thought, but hurriedly stowed the letter and folder inside her backpack because she knew her father was waiting for her outside.

xx

When she exited the school gates, she saw her dad leaning against the wall, waiting as she knew he would be.

"Dad!" She shouted.

He immediately spotted Alexis in the crowd and waved to her as she sprinted over. She crashed into him hard, wrapping her arms around his waist.

He laughed as he hugged her to him.

"Hi, Lex!"

She looked up with a grin.

"Hi, dad."

"Did you have a good day, slash week?"

"Yes," she said, smiling. "I had a good day, _slash_ week_." _

He gave her a look as she mocked him. She took his hand and her loving jabs were forgiven. They swung hands as Rick led them to the car.

"How was California?" Alexis asked as she climbed into the front seat.

"Oh, you know, a lot of sun, a lot of traffic."

He closed her car door and jogged over to the driver's side and climbed in.

"Was the movie set cool?"

"Eh," he said. He started the car and carefully pulled into traffic. "It was pretty cool, I guess. It'd be cooler if it was _my_ movie."

"I thought you said there was someone who wanted to make Derrick Storm into a movie?"

"Yeah… But we had different creative visions, let's just put it that way."

"Mm," Alexis hummed.

"Hey," Rick said suddenly. "How'd your pen-pal turned out? What's Detective Beckett like? Is he nice?"

"Well, Detective Beckett is a she. Her name's Kate and she's _really_ nice, at least from her letter."

"Huh. Female detective. That's pretty cool."

"Yeah, lots of people wanted to trade with me. I'm glad I didn't."

"I bet everyone wanted to trade with Chris," he said, referring to his own assigned pen-pal. "I mean, your dad's kind of a big deal."

Alexis rolled her eyes.

"What?" He asked. "Am I not a big deal?"

"I mean, I guess… Kind of…"

"Hey, missy. I will have you know everything I've written has made it on the bestseller's list." He paused. "Almost everything."

Alexis smiled.

"I know," she told him. "I'm only teasing. I think you're a great writer, dad."

Rick looked over and smiled. The pride in her voice didn't come close to the pride he felt for _her_.

"So… What's on the agenda for this weekend? What do you want to do?"

Alexis didn't want to ask about the play. If he hadn't remembered, that was okay. They always found something fun to do.

"We don't have to do anything. We could just hang out."

Rick looked at her. "Are you sure? You don't want to…"

He reached up and fiddled with the sun visor. Two pieces of paper fell into his lap. He reached down and held them up between two fingers, splaying them like he would playing cards.

"See a play?"

Alexis lit up. She lunged for the tickets and he smiled as she grabbed them from him.

"You remembered!"

"I've had them on hold since you said you wanted to go. I just picked them up today."

She held the tickets to her, beaming.

"Did you even look to see what play?" He asked.

She looked at the tickets again.

"Matilda! I love that movie!"

Rick smiled. "I know. I heard the play's really good, too. Thought you might want to see that."

He was happy to see her look so happy. He only wished he could do it for her more often.

"The play's not until tomorrow so what do you want to do tonight?"

"Let's stay in and order pizza."

"Staying in and ordering pizza it is then."

xx

One pizza and a movie later, father and daughter sat on the sofa, Rick's legs lazily stretched across the coffee table, and Alexis' across his.

Rick sighed as they both stared at the tv he had just turned off.

"I should probably get some writing done."

"Me too."

Rick looked over at her. "What do you have to write?"

"My letter back to Kate."

"Oh, right. What do you say I go get my laptop, you go get your paper or whatever it is you need, and we rendezvous in the den?"

She nodded, but neither of them moved, bellies too full, and bodies too content to stay at rest.

"Readyyy," Rick drew out. "And… Break!"

Alexis pulled her legs from off of his and jumped to her feet. Rick was a little slower and needed a more motivation. Alexis took him by both hands and yanked him to his feet.

"Alright. Den in 5," he said. "I'm going to bring some water and some Swedish Fish. You want anything?"

"Peach O's!"

"You got it, sweet cheeks!"

Alexis beat him to the den by several minutes as he dug through the stash of candy he kept well stocked. When he came in, his arms were full of more than just Swedish Fish and Peach-O's."

"Dad!"

He looked up at his daughter's reproachful tone.

"Don't parent me. I decided I couldn't make up my mind, so I brought them all."

Alexis shook her head as she returned to reading her letter.

They fell into a rhythm, Rick tapping on his keyboard and Alexis writing her letter. The silence was only occasionally interrupted when one of them retrieved a handful of candy and offer some to the other.

"Baby bird?" He questioned, holding up a Sour Patch Kid.

She opened her mouth and he tossed it across the desk. They both raised triumphant hands when she caught it on the first go. They had that practice pretty much down.

Sometime later, Alexis paused in her writing.

"Dad?"

"Hmm?" He was rather distracted as this had been the steadiest stream of writing he'd gotten done in weeks.

"Can you help me?"

His typing immediately ceased and he looked up, all ears.

"Sure, what is it?"

"I have to ask Kate some questions about her job, but I'm not sure what to ask."

"Well," he said slowly. "What do you want to know?"

She shrugged. "I don't know."

"Well, there must be something you're curious about…"

"What would you ask?"

"What would I ask?" He repeated. He thought for a moment. "I don't know, I think I would probably ask something like, what does she like best about her job? What's the hardest part? What made her want to be a cop? There are a lot of questions. You can't go wrong, honey. It's whatever you want to know."

Alexis nodded and she contemplated his questions.

"Aren't most police officers guys?" She asked.

"Um.. I think the majority are, yeah…" He paused to type something into his computer.

"The stats say about 9-20% of law enforcement officers are female, depending on the size of the department."

"So that's not very many then…"

"No, it's not.. What are you thinking about asking?"

"If it's hard to do a job that's mostly done by guys… Like, if she ever felt like she couldn't do it because she's a girl."

Rick nodded his head thoughtfully.

"That's a great question. I hope Chris is able to come up with some good ones. I hope I don't get stuck with-"

She cut him off with another question. "Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Is this fun for you? To get letters from a kid and then have to respond to them? Like, honestly. Isn't it wasting your time?"

"Wasting my time?" He asked. "Well, I mean, I guess in a sense… i could be taking that time to do my actual job and work on my next book or, you know, do something for myself, yeah.. But wasting also implies I don't think it's a _good_ use of my time. I don't mind in the least… In fact, this is a fun project for me. I like feeling like I'm able to teach someone something or offer advice."

Rick paused as he looked at his daughter. "Why? Are you worried you're wasting your pen-pal's time?"

Alexis shrugged. "Kind of. She's a detective, she could probably be doing more important things."

Rick collected his thoughts carefully. Alexis, despite all his best intentions, had grown up feeling insecure. Maybe that was to be expected in a divided home. Maybe she'd still outgrow it. But as it was, she doubted a lot. She doubted other people, she constantly doubted herself.

"Alexis, if she's any good at her job, she won't need to sacrifice her work to write to you. She'll make the time for both. She wouldn't have agreed to participate if she didn't want to or wasn't able. I think she probably feels like I do, that this is a wonderful opportunity to share what we're passionate about with you kids. And, who knows," Rick said with a shrug. "Maybe you'll two wind up clicking and she'll continue to be a resource for you even after this project is over. You're thinking too hard about it, honey. Sometimes you gotta shut this off," he leaned across the table to tap on her head with a pen. "And just do it."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: The way I had originally envisioned it, was that Alexis, at some point, worked up the courage to ask Kate if she could find out who her dad is. Kate says no, but curiosity winds up getting the best of her. As you can probably see, I decided to compromise on the Rick/Alexis relationship. Someone suggested joint custody with the possibility for him trying for full, which I think offers as much potential as the Rick finding out he has a daughter storyline. **

**Hope you guys continue to enjoy!** **Feedback's always nice- I would like to see what you think of the Alexis/Rick dynamic. :)**


	4. Chapter 4

"Yo, Beckett-"

Kate looked up from her desk in time to see her partner push himself away from his own. The chair rolled past her on the wood floor, overshooting her desk by a few good feet.

She resisted the urge to laugh as he comically scooted himself back in her direction, totally undermining the smoothness of the original motion. She arched her eyebrows when he rolled to a stop in front of her.

"This is a place of work, Detective Esposito. Are you in need of something to do? I'm sure I can find you some paperwork that needs doing."

Esposito rolled his eyes good naturedly. It'd been a slow morning, well, slower than most. They had an open case, but were waiting for some leads to pan out which required results from lab tests that were still being run. Right now, they had time to kill.

"I was just wondering if you'd heard back from your pen-pal yet."

Kate looked at his open, child-like face.

"I swear, you're more into this than I am."

"What?" He said, shrugging his shoulders defensively. "I never had a pen-pal before. Ryan's had one, you have one…"

Kate stuck her bottom lip out. "Aw," she teased. "Someone feeling a little left out?"

He scoffed, but then mumbled, "Maybe."

Kate smiled as she checked the corner of her computer screen for the time.

"Mail usually comes about 10," she told Esposito. "I'm guessing they would have sent the letters out Friday or Monday and it takes what? A couple days?"

"Usually."

"Well, then… I expect with it being Thursday, it'll be here today or tomorrow. You want to do the honors of opening it?"

"No," he stated petulantly. "I just wanted to see what she said."

He started rolling back to his desk. He paused at his empty partner's.

"When do you think lazy ass over here's going to drag his ass in?"

"'Lazy ass' is here and not taking any of your shit today."

Esposito and Kate turned to find Ryan walking in, shifting a drink carrier from one hand to the other. With his hand now free, he tossed an envelope on Kate's desk.

"Beckett. That came for you, and," he said, setting down the carrier on her desk to remove one of the coffees. "This is also for you."

Kate thanked him as he turned to Esposito. "Javi, a brought you one too, but now I might just keep it for myself. I could use the extra caffeine."

"Ah, come on. You know lazy ass is a term of endearment," Esposito returned lightly, rolling himself back over to Kate's desk.

Ryan glared at him, but allowed him to take the coffee.

"Well," he said, turning to Kate.

She looked at both her partners over the top of her coffee.

"Are you going to open it?"

Kate sighed as she set her coffee down and leaned back in her seat. What children she worked with!

"You guys do realize that this is my pen-pal, right?"

"Yeah, so?" Esposito asked. "We're not asking you to surrender your rights as 'pen-pal.'"

Kate narrowed her eyes at his over exaggerated air quotes.

"We're just asking you to open the letter… damn!"

Kate stared at each of them in term, hoping to convey with her eyes the exasperation eating at her patience as she reached for the envelope and started to tear it open.

She pulled out the letter and thrust it in the direction of her partners.

"Here. I know you all want to read it, too. Go ahead."

Now they feigned casual disinterest.

"No, no, that's okay. We'll wait until you're done."

"Honestly.. You guys are ridiculous."

She took back the letter with the intent to speed-read it. She could look it over more in depth later when she didn't have these two bozos looking over her shoulder like school children.

_Dear Miss Kate, _

_I was really excited to get your first letter. My favorite was how you said you used to get in trouble for reading during class because I do that too! I always think that I'm being sneaky by hiding it in my lap, but my teacher always catches me. _

Without her even realizing it, Kate's speed-read slowed to enjoy the written words.

_Reading is my favorite subject because it doesn't feel like work. With math and science you really have to think sometimes and, with reading, it just comes easier. I also like it because of the other worlds it opens up… It kind of feels like you're a part of it, you know, and the characters are like real people. The story just pulls you in- like Inkheart, the series I'm reading now, is like that. I don't know that it's as good as Harry Potter, but the story is really interesting. It's kind of hard to explain without giving too much away, but it's about this girl named Meggie who lives with her dad. She later finds out that her dad has a gift and that he can read characters OUT of stories. Literally. If he reads aloud, the characters come to life. It sounds weird, and I don't know if I explained it very well, but it's so good! I've almost finished with the first one. _

_Did you have a favorite book growing up? Or is there a favorite author you like to read? _

_You said that I could tell you more about myself, but there isn't that much to say. There isn't anything very interesting about me. I don't really have a lot of hobbies. I mostly read or hang out with my best friend Paige. I've known her since kindergarten, so we've been best friends for a while. She has a lot of hobbies. She does dance and gymnastics, but I quit dance in third grade and gymnastics was never fun for me. I've been wanting to learn the violin, and my dad got me lessons recently, so I guess that's sort of interesting. Do you play any instruments? Or did you learn some when you were in school? _

_What were you like when you were my age? _

_I'm sorry, I keep getting distracted. I'm supposed to ask you five questions that have to do with your job, so I don't think any of those count. _

_I don't really know that much about police officers except for what I've seen on TV- I'm sorry if these are silly questions. _

_How did you get to be a Detective? _

_How does it work? If you think someone did something illegal, do you just arrest them? _

_Is it easy for you to tell who the bad guys are? _

_What is the best part about your job? The worst? _

_Does being a girl make it harder to be a cop? My dad and I checked online and it said that only between 9-20% of police officers are women, it depends on how big the department is? Is that true? _

At the last question, Kate paused, murmuring, "Wow"

"What? What is it?" Ryan asked.

"She's sharp. Very bright."

Esposito let out an amused sound. "Like you can tell just from a couple letters! You don't even know her."

"You can tell by the questions she asks," Kate replied defensively. She wanted to shove the letter in front of Esposito's face and point at the questions. "She's wanting to know about sexism in the work force. What fifth grader is going to think to bring up the ratio of women to men and ask whether that's made an impact on how I do my job?"

"You're kidding," Ryan said, trying to get a look at the letter.

She pulled the letter away; she wasn't finished reading yet. "Well, she didn't exactly word it like that, but that's what she's getting at."

She looked back down to finish the letter which, she had noted, was near its salutations.

_I know that there were more than five questions, but I thought some of had to do with each other so I just put them together. _

_I think that by the time you get this, it will probably already be the end of the week… So, I hope you have a good weekend! _

_Your friend, _

_Alexis_

_PS You mentioned that you had partners… What are they like? Are you guys good friends? _

Kate laughed as she read the PS.

She looked up again at Ryan and Esposito.

"She asked about you guys."

"Really?" Ryan asked.

"What'd she say?" Esposito demanded, reaching for the paper.

Kate pulled it out of his reach and read the post-script aloud.

"'PS You mentioned that you had partners… What are they like? Are you guys good friends?' Annoying and No," Kate said, answering Alexis' question with a crooked smile. "Wouldn't be caught dead with them outside of work."

"Ah, come on, you can't tell her that!" Ryan said as Esposito huffed.

"I can't believe you only just mentioned us. Uh, we've saved each other's lives, I think we deserve more than just a mention."

Kate rolled her eyes as Esposito took her legal pad from her desk and flipped it around towards him. He uncapped a pen and started writing.

"What are you doing?" She asked him, leaning over to see what he was writing.

"I'm going to write Alexis a letter and tell her about how awesome Ryan and I are and what better pen-pals we would make-"

"Uh, good luck, buddy. Alexis and I are like this already," she told Esposito, wrapping her index and middle finger together. "She wouldn't want you guys as her pen-pals when I tell her you're both full of sh-"

She held off on the word as Esposito raised his eyebrows. He was daring her to finish that statement, so he could comment on her poor word choice around impressionable youths.

"When I tell her you're both lazy and make me do all the work."

"Uh-huh, uh-huh," Esposito murmured, continuing to write. "We'll see who she thinks is the cooler detective when I tell her about that time Ryan and I had to save you 'cause you got your ass abducted."

Kate tutted as he and Ryan shared a fist bump and a good laugh at her expense.

"Fine," she told them. "Write your letter. I never said I'd send it."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I see some of you have some ideas on what this pen-palship means for how Kate and Rick meet... I guess we'll have to wait and see! :) **


	5. Chapter 5

When Kate was getting ready to leave for the night, she stopped by Esposito's desk on her way out. Her shadow cast by the florescent lighting of the precinct loomed over Espo. He looked up to meet her practiced expression of patience. She held her hand out to him like a mother wordlessly demanding something back from her child. When he couldn't instantly figure out what she wanted, her fingers wiggled impatiently.

"Come on," she told him. "Give me the letter."

"Ah, for real?" He asked, reaching for the crinkled sheet of yellow notebook paper he'd torn from the pad earlier.

"You didn't really think I wouldn't send it, did you?"

She took the paper rom him and unfolded it, glancing at his grade school handwriting.

"Uh, excuse you. Can you not? That letter is for Alexis, is your name Alexis?"

"Can it, Javi," She retorted. She folded it back along its creases. "Ryan write one too, or were you the spokesperson for Tweedledee and Tweedledum?"

Esposito gave her a dry look.

"Ha-ha," he replied humorlessly. "Good one. He wrote a little something in there too. Unlike you, we know how to share pen-pal privileges."

Kate rolled her eyes.

"I'll show you pen-pal privileges," she muttered under her breath as she tucked the letter in her purse beside Alexis'.

"You hanging around much longer?" Her attitude had lost its teasing nature, shifting easily into her more polished tone reserved for her detective title.

"Nah. I'm on my way out, too."

Esposito rose out of his chair and turned off his personal desk lamp. He shrugged on his leather jacket and took one last look at his less than organized desk. The files would be waiting for him in the morning.

The two walked to the elevator, leaving behind them a mostly empty floor.

"I feel a little bad for Ryan," Kate said as the elevator started its descent.

Ryan had left shortly after two this afternoon, putting in less than five hours.

"Yeah, I know." Esposito frowned. "If I'd have known he was late coming in because Jenny wasn't feeling well, I wouldn't have given him such a hard time earlier."

The elevator doors opened and Esposito followed Kate out.

"I'm sure she'll be fine. It's probably just a stomach bug or something."

The two fell into easy silence as their footsteps fell in sync. Esposito walked her to her car as an older brother might with his younger sister, in concern for her safety. Of course he know she could handle her own, likely as well as he could. It was simply common courtesy.

"You want a ride or are you going to catch a cab?" Kate asked.

"I'll catch a cab."

Esposito paused as Kate unlocked her door and tossed her purse onto the passenger's seat. She stopped short of getting in when she noticed Esposito hadn't moved.

"What is it?"

Normally not one to be overly introspective, or at least not outwardly so, his thoughtful exterior was concerning.

"I've been thinking-"

"Oh, that's dangerous…"

Esposito shot her a look before continuing. "About Alexis' questions."

Kate shifted her weight to her other foot and stared at her friend over the top of her car.

"Yeah…"

"And her last one, the one about if your being a woman's made it harder, you know, to be a cop…"

"Yeah…" Kate said again slowly.

"Well…. Does it?" He wanted to know. "Like no one's actually said anything… sexist or anything like that to you on the job… Have they?"

He was picturing balding men, rude comments followed by titters. Men questioning Beckett's authority on the sole premise of her gender rather than her actual capacity to perform her job.

Kate was quiet for a moment as she thought about it.

"Well, you've seen how the suspects first size me up. They can be a bit bolder, a little less respectful of my authority, more sure of what they can get away with. They think because I'm a woman I'm more easily intimidated or manipulated, but…" She smiled. "You've also seen how that goes."

She clearly wasn't as troubled by the question as Esposito seemed to be. He didn't return her smile, but instead rephrased his question.

"No, I mean… I know that.. But, like, on the administrative side, or, like, with other officers."

Oh… Well, that was different.

"You know," Kate said. "Maybe at first. There were a few jeers, a couple smart ass remarks… Mostly in the academy. I butted heads with some people. But, I think I've more than proved myself, and once I did that, people started to realize my being a woman didn't limit me in any way, if anything, it's made me better at what I do."

She stared at her partner curiously.

"Why are you so bothered by this all of a sudden?"

"I don't know." He shrugged. "I guess I never really thought about it that much. It got me wondering if I've ever said something, or… I don't know, without me realizing it. I know I talk shit, but I hope you've never thought of it as anything other than me just running my mouth. I'm proud to have you as my partner."

Kate smiled. For such a hard ass, Esposito really had a soft side.

"Get outta here, you goon. You're so tired, you're talking nonsense now."

"Really though…"

She raised an eyebrow as she repeated him.

"Really though, you think I would have let you get away with it, without popping you one in the jaw?"

"Point taken," Esposito acknowledged. Preoccupations put to rest, Esposito gave her a smile.

"Better not forget to send my and Ryan's letter."

"Yeah, yeah," Kate said, climbing into her car.

She started the engine and let it idle as she watched her partner-and friend- disappear from the rearview mirror.

She really did have two of the greatest partners. She'd be sure to tell Alexis.

xx

_Dear Alexis.. Al? Ali? (Do you have any nicknames?)_

_Has anyone ever told you what a bright kid you are? I'm sure they have. Your questions were very thoughtful- my partners and I were impressed. _

Kate paused in her writing and flipped the pages to look at Alexis' again. She chew her lip as she thought about how to structure her response. What to tackle first…

She wasn't even sure how she wanted to answer the questions.

**— ****What's the best part? The worst? — **

Did she know anymore? Why was she a detective? Why was she doing this?

Kate closed her eyes and sighed deeply. She highly doubted Alexis' questions were intended to incite an existential crisis. She set her barely started letter down on her nightstand, and reached to turn out the light.

She would spend a sleepless night, tossing and turning as the questions rolled around in her head.

xx

"Shit, shit, shit," Kate muttered as she grabbed what was left of her coffee.

She'd gotten up early to go to Sandra's coffee shop to finish Alexis' letter before her shift started. She hadn't been planning on losing track of time.

Kate made for the door, her shoulder holding her cellphone to her ear as she dug for her keys in her purse. She hadn't been looking when she exited the shop and wound up colliding hard into someone.

Her phone went flying. The lid popped off her travel cup and what had remained of her drink was now splashed across her front.

"I am so sorry- I wasn't…"

His words broke off as he recognized her as the woman from last time. He waited for her to look up and realize the same thing.

She bent down to retrieve her phone. Coffee dripped from her hands. After wiping the screen on her jacket-because what did it matter now- she looked at the unsealed envelope in the hand that also held the coffee cup. By some miracle, it had largely escaped total ruin.

"Dammit." She said to no one in particular.

She looked up and stilled before shaking off his profuse apologies. But if she recognized him, she didn't let on.

"I'm sorry," he apologized again.

"No, don't be. That was my fault. I should have been watching where I was going."

She shook her dripping hands, drops of coffee splattering the cement sidewalk. She tucked the envelope in her purse, along with her phone, and wondered why he hadn't moved.

"I don't know if you remember, but I'm the-"

"I remember."

He was thrown by her abrupt answer, but not as thrown as he was by the small smile.

He held out his hand.

"We didn't exactly meet the last time. My name's Rick."

Her lips quirked. So, she _had _recognized him the last time… Which only made him wonder, why hadn't she commented on his identity before?

"And I'm late," she said, adding, "And covered in coffee."

Rick tried to get a look at her cup, thinking her name would surely be inked in black marker. The curls of the letters peeked out behind her fingers, but he couldn't make out a name.

"Here… At least let me buy you another coffee."

Kate shook her head. "Oh, no. That's okay. That was probably a sign I've had more than enough."

She started to step to the side. Rick sidestepped in front of her. People bumped into them on either side as they bustled past.

"I really am running late," Kate said.

Reluctantly, Rick gave it up. He didn't think he was going to get a coffee date out of this one, not this time at least.

"Alright, well… Next time we run into each other, coffee's on me."

Kate doubted it'd ever happen, but she smiled anyway.

"Well, I wouldn't object."

Rick smiled as he watched her cross the street. A car nowhere close honked at her like she'd impeded his impatient rush in a great way.

Rick couldn't help it. He called out after her one last time.

"See you around!"

He could barely make out her profile as she glanced back over her shoulder. Her words hardly carried over the speeding traffic that passed.

"Doubt it!"

As Rick turned and walked into the coffee shop, he reached into his inside jacket pocket and pulled out Chris' letter that he had come here to finish.

**— ****Where do you find inspiration for writing?— **

Rick thought of the loose curls that framed the mystery woman's face. Her easy acceptance of the collision that had left her entire front covered in coffee. She'd hadn't yelled or blamed him, but had accepted it was too late to matter who's fault it was. He thought of his inability to keep her even a few minutes longer from whatever pressing matter called for her attention.

He sat down at a small table in the corner. The bells on the coffeehouse door chimed as people came and went.

Rick got out a pen and started writing.


	6. Chapter 6

Kate was rushing through the lobby of the precinct when she saw the khaki uniform of the postman.

"Frankie!"

He turned to face her, leaving the couple packages he'd brought on the counter .

"Hey Detective Beckett…" He took in her coffee stained and uncustomary disheveled appearance. "Rough morning?"

"What gave it away? The coffee stains or the hair?"

He pointed down to her feet.

"Your shoes don't match."

Alarmed, Kate looked down only to find he'd been teasing.

Frankie chuckled. "What can I do for you?"

Kate shot him a look as she dug in her purse for the envelope. He reached to take it only to have her pull it back.

"Wait."

She pulled out the letter and thumbed to the last page.

_PS_, she wrote, _Sorry about the coffee stains. I had a little mishap this morning and didn't have the time to rewrite._

She drew a smiley face… Its smile was a little lopsided… Oh well..

She folded the pages and tucked them back into the envelope. She licked the envelope, making a face at the unpleasant taste.

Frankie took the letter, inspecting it in his hands as Kate hurried over to the filling elevator.

"Love letter?" He called out to her.

Kate turned, taking the last few steps backwards as she answered.

"Something like that!"

xx

"Alright, alright… Class, settle down or letters can wait until tomorrow."

There was a collective hush as the class fell silent, an unspoken agreement that any classmate who ruined this for them would not be easily forgiven.

Ms. Blake felt like shaking her head. The class had been uncharacteristically unruly all day. She looked at the LED clock on the wall. Her day was almost over. She could do this.

"I need someone to help me pass out letters… Alexis?"

Normally, Alexis would be the first one to volunteer, but she was a seater to read her letter as everyone else was.

She rose to her feet without complaint and Ms. Blake handed her a stack of letters. Some envelopes were thin and felt like they held nothing in them, others were slightly bulky. She hoped hers would be one of the latter.

Alexis made quick work of the letters, but, as luck would have it, her letter was in Ms. Blake's stack. She watched with impatient eyes as the next letter was given to someone else, and the next, and the next…

"Alexis-"

With eager hands, she grabbed her letter. It was slightly crinkled and stained in several places. Excitement bubbled within her as she carefully tore open the envelope.

The yellow paper and unfamiliar handwriting confused her at first. There must be some mistake, she thought. Before she could turn to check the last page for some explanation, her eyes caught the familiar handwriting at the top that she had initially skipped over in her haste.

—_My partners were jealous I had a pen-pal and insisted on writing you their own letter. Don't believe everything they say- especially Esposito. _

The handwriting was the complete opposite of Kate's. It was maybe worse than some of her classmates_. _

_Alexis—_

_Hey, so my girl here says you want to know what her partners are like… Well, let me tell you… _

_Oh, yeah- This is Esposito, by the way.. Forgot to say that… Anyway, here's what you need to know about Kate's partners. _

_Ryan and I are the bravest, smartest, most good looking partners Kate could ever dream of having. And we're funny. Well, I'm funny. Ryan thinks he is. We only laugh at his jokes so he doesn't feel bad. We also do a lot of the work. Kate likes to pretend she's in charge and that she's the one that solves all the cases, but let me tell you… It's Ryan and me that do all the heavy lifting. We run down leads and talk to witnesses, and make the arrests. Kate just stands there lookin' pretty (she's the face of the team). _

_Nah, I'm just playing with you, kid. Kate is a good detective, probably the best. Don't tell her I said that. _

_The three of us are really lucky to be working together. I couldn't ask for a better team. I don't know what all Kate's already told you about our job, but it can be hard sometimes- nowhere near as hard as it would be though if we didn't have partners we knew we could trust with our lives. _

_Our little team.. the three of us… we're a family. _

_Well…. That about sums it up, I guess. _

_Ryan and I have heard so much about you- you sound like one smart kid! I hope you don't mind that Kate shared your letters with us or that we wanted to write you a note. _

_If you ever get tired of Kate or are ever bored with her letters, you can always address your next one to Det. Javier Esposito. I'm not going to lie to you, I'm definitely a better pen-pal. _

_Take care, kid!_

_J. Esposito_

Alexis smiled to herself as she turned the page over to find another new set of handwriting. This handwriting fell somewhere in between Kate's neat and measured penmanship and the messy, grade school handwriting of Esposito.

_Dear Alexis, _

_Well, since Javi started the letter, I'm guessing you already know who I am by process of elimination. Just to be sure.. I'm Kevin Ryan. I'm the poor guy that has to keep Javi in line and Kate grounded. I don't know if you've gathered as much this early on, but Javi's a bit reckless and Kate's hardheaded. _

_I've heard a lot about you from Kate. I think it's cool that you want to be a writer. I used to write poetry… bad, bad poetry. Obviously, I gave that up and pursued something I've proven to be much better at. If you want to be a writer, how'd you end up getting paired with a police detective, may I ask? _

_Wish I had time to write more, but my wife is home sick, so I'm leaving early to go take care of her. _

_Remember not to believe everything Javi tells you; he embellishes. The same goes for Kate, but because she plays things down. _

_Have a good one, Alexis—_

_Kevin_

By Ryan's salutation, Alexis was grinning widely. The fact that Kate told her partners about her, and then the fact that they'd want to write her their own letter…

"Alexis, dude! Your dad wrote a story in his letter!"

Chris was waving his letter at her as he walked towards her desk. Alexis was trying to read her own letter which she'd been looking forward to all week.

_Dear Alexis.. Al? Ali? (Do you have any nicknames?)_

"Alexis! Check it out!"

Chris slapped his letter down on her desk, covering Kate's letter. Alexis tried to push it away from her, but Chris held it in place with one hand.

"Look at this story he wrote!"

"Yeah," Alexis said, glaring. "he does that. He's a writer."

Chris really got on her nerves sometimes. She just wanted to read her letter.

"But read it!" He was as proud of his pen-pal as Alexis was of hers. "He made up an entire story just on some lady he met for like five seconds in a coffee shop!"

Alexis glanced down and skimmed the first sentence. _The first meeting was chance, the second was fate-_

"Yeah. Great. So good." Alexis pushed the letter back to her classmate. Her dad had written her a million stories, Kate had only written her two. The second of which she was still dying to read.

"You didn't even read it!" Chris exclaimed.

"I didn't need to." Alexis said, looking back down at Kate's letter. "Everything my dad writes is good."

Chris, thoroughly displeased with her lack of enthusiasm for his letter, took the letter to Ms. Blake.

"Ms. Blake! Ms. Blake!"

Alexis tuned him out.

_Dear Alexis.. Al? Ali? (Do you have any nicknames?)_

_You, my dear, asked some wonderful questions-none of them easily answered. Well, that's not entirely true, the one's that don't have to do with my job are easy enough. _

_I'll quickly answer your other questions and then tackle- or try to tackle- your bigger ones._

_I think, shortly put, I was probably a lot like you when I was your age. I devoured book, as I think you do. To go along with that, you asked if I had a favorite book growing up. I had lots. My favorites constantly changed, depending on the day, my mood. On rainy days, my favorite was Nancy Drew. Any Nancy Drew. My mom and I would read these in front of the living room window. I'd watch rivulets of rain run down the glass as my mom read the mysteries aloud. Sunny days, most days, I like whatever the latest fantasy novel was out. i was never really picky, so long as it held my attention, I read it. _

_Now, I mostly read nonfiction. Occasionally, I'll delve a bit into the world of murder mysteries. There's no shortage of great authors in that genre. I doubt at your age you'll have read any of those, or be familiar with any of the authors I enjoy reading. _

_I always wanted to learn how to play the violin, but my parents wanted me to as well. So, of course, in typical child rebellion, I refused to take lessons. i did later-much later- take some impromptu guitar lessons. So, I know a bit, just not enough to be cool. _

_Alright, miss.. Now we get to the meatier stuff. _

_How did I get to be a detective? _

_I'm not sure if you were referring to the process or how I myself came to be a detective-_

Alexis stopped long enough to feel embarrassed. Why hadn't she been clearer? She should have-

_or if maybe you meant both. _

Alexis felt relieved, some of her embarrassment subsiding. Yes, she'd meant both.

_So, the process…_

_It varies a little from department to department. usually, you start as a uniform and work your way up. What this means is you apply to the police department first. The application process generally takes about six months. There are tests and background checks you have to pass. Once you're accepted, you attend the police academy for some odd weeks and learn a lot of the legalities and expectations the job entails. After-this is your rookie phase, by the way- you're usually paired with a training officer, an experienced officer with years on the job. Once they feel you're ready, they kind of just turn you loose. Normally, if you're looking to be a detective, you'll spend a good 6-10 years before anyone'll really consider you for the position. Again, it varies person to person, department to department. There's no real time table. For me, it was on the shorter end- close to four years before I earned my title of detective. _

_To be honest with you, and this will help you no matter the job you're looking to go into, your talent, your abilities… They'll take you far. Who you know, and knowing the right people can take you even farther. I had someone, a mentor if you will, who saw my potential and he was able to open many doors for me before I would have been able to. I'm not telling you to rely solely on connections, but don't overlook the importance of developing relationships with others. _

_As for how I myself came to be a detective… Sometimes, Alexis, there will be events that shape your life and push you down a path you hadn't seen for yourself. That's kind of what happened with me and becoming a detective. Before, I'd wanted to be a lawyer. Now, I can't imagine not being a detective. _

_How does it work? If you think someone did something illegal, do you just arrest them? _

_It's a bit more complex than that. In order to make an arrest, we need an arrest warrant from a judge, or justification for making the arrest. This justification is what we call _probable cause_. We need evidence or a reasonable rationale for making an arrest. We investigate a crime, narrow down possible suspects, and try to find evidence to build a case and justify an arrest. That's the general idea behind the process. I don't know if this helps any. If you want, I can try to explain it more in depth in my next letter._

_Is it easy for you to tell who the bad guys are? _

_Not always. Sometimes they're the first person you'd expect, and sometimes they're the last. But, if you ever get the feeling that someone isn't good, or something just doesn't feel quite right, always trust that feeling, Alexis. Your gut feeling is most often the right feeling. _

_What is the best part about your job? The worst? _

_Oh, boy. Another toughie question. How'd you come up with these? _

_Unlike victims of other crimes like robbery or assault, victims of homicide can't fight for justice for themselves. As my captain says, "We speak for the dead." For me, I don't think there's anything better than being able to be the voice for those that don't have one. It is what makes the job so hard. Every day, every case, I am reminded of what's wrong with the world. But, I've learned to remind myself of the good still left. Like you, for instance. Our pen-palship has been the highlight of my past few weeks. _

Like the last one, this smiley face was perfect in only that it was imperfect.

_Does being a girl make it harder to be a cop? _

_Oof, child.. Where to start with this. That statistic sounds about right. I think it's on the lower side in my own precinct. To answer your question in a few words: yes and no. On the administrative and working with peers side, it felt harder in the beginning than it does now. It might be because I've grown used to the difficulties and adjusted my own expectations, and it could be because things have simply gotten better. _

_On the actual physical demands side of the job, I don't think so. I've found that I've been able to hold my own just as well as my male counterparts, for the most part. You get out what you put in, and that goes for just about everything. I've worked hard to get where I am, and I'm very confident in my ability to do my job. _

_Sometimes, and I hope this changes by the time you're entering the work force, it'll feel like you have something extra to prove just because you're a woman, like people won't respect you if you don't, but you need to remember you don't have to prove yourself to anyone… but yourself. _

_Okay, I hope I answered these questions to your satisfaction! _

_Do you have any fun plans for this weekend? What did you do last weekend? _

_Talk soon, _

_Kate_

_PS Sorry about the coffee stains. I had a little mishap this morning and didn't have the time to rewrite._

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><p><strong>AN: I don't normally update my stories so often, but your guys' responses have made it hard to stay away! Glad you still seem to be enjoying it :) **


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I know this one's shorter than the last one and a bit of a filler, but it's all I really had time for- I wrote it between classes and on the train ride home from the gym.**

**This is my way of saying thank you for all the feedback and love you've given me and this story!**

**Hope you enjoy :) **

* * *

><p>"Alexis, honey, can you stop writing long enough to help me set the table, please?"<p>

Alexis closed her notebook, leaving the pen sticking out to mark her place. She set it on the kitchen counter before reaching to take the two plates and two sets of silverware from her mother.

"And when you come back, you can get us drinks," Meredith told her as she reached into the oven for her lasagna bake.

She didn't often take the time to cook more complicated meals; her schedule hardly ever allowed. Meredith did know how to cook, though, and she cooked well. It was something she'd taken up early, if only to better her already exceptional talent of entertaining and impressing others.

Meredith returned to the kitchen to prepare the salad as Alexis poured drinks.

"No! No, honey! I want water, please—"

Alexis stopped pouring the second glass of milk. She deliberated for half a moment what to do with the milk before she just dumped it into her own. She slurped the nearly overflowing milk until it was low enough to be lifted. She drank down several large gulps to make carrying it even more manageable. Alexis then took the empty one and rinsed it well before filling it with filtered water.

She carried the full glasses to the table where her mom had just sat down. The lasagna smelled heavenly. Meredith served herself first before passing the salad bowl to her daughter and reaching for the lasagna.

"Did you have a good day, mom?"

"Oh, you know…" Meredith shrugged as she popped a bite of lasagna in her mouth. "Didn't get the call back for that one show, but that's okay. I was starting to feel like it wasn't quite the right role for me anyway."

Alexis nodded dutifully as she listened to the familiar it-just-wasn't-quite-right-for-me spiel.

"What about you, how was your day, Alexis?"

"It was really good!" Alexis answered, shifting in her seat as she grew more animated. "We got letters from our pen-pals again today!"

"Oh. You did?" Her forced smile was easy enough to read through. "Did you do anything besides letter writing?"

"Well, yeah…" Alexis started to say. "We had math and reading in the morning before lunch, and then after specials we worked on our letters until class was over."

"Oh, well that's good, at least."

"What? Why do you say it like that?"

Alexis watched her mother finish chewing before carefully setting her fork and knife down.

"Well, it's just… your dad and I don't pay an exorbitant amount of money for your private education to have you wasting class time writing letters to _pen-pals._"

Alexis, in her heated reaction, wanted to remind Meredith that it was her father who paid for the majority of her tuition fees, but she held her tongue, knowing it would get her nowhere.

"We _are_ learning. We are learning about different jobs and what those jobs are like. We have to write a paper _and_ give a presentation. It isn't wasting time if we're still learning."

"Alright, alright," her mother said placatingly. "You don't need to take that tone with me."

"Well, you're making me feel bad about a school project and—"

Meredith reached across the table to place a hand on Alexis'.

"I'm sorry, honey. I didn't mean to make you feel bad about it. I just have trouble understanding why you can't email or call these people instead. It'd be faster than snail mail, a more efficient use of time… But, if you're having fun with it and feel like you're getting something out of it, then I'm happy."

Anger subsiding, but feelings still stinging, Alexis wordlessly accepted her mother's apology.

"So," her mom said, attempting to try again. "You got your second letter today… What'd your pen-pal have to say? What is it they do again?"

"She's a police detective."

"Oh, right! I remember now… Kate. Kate, wasn't it?" She asked, her brows knitting in a way she always tried to avoid on account of wrinkles.

"Yeah," Alexis said. She took another bite of lasagna. Her defensive hackles were slowly mellowing. She didn't understand why she and her mother had such a difficult time communicating without either one having to become defensive about something.

"I asked her some questions about her job in my last letter, so she was just telling me about being a police officer. Did you know that the application process takes, like, six months?"

"Six?" Meredith repeated, eyebrows raising.

Alexis nodded. "And then she said once you've graduated from the police academy or whatever, it takes another six to ten years to become a detective."

"Oh, wow," Meredith bobbed her head as Alexis spoke animatedly.

"Yeah, but Kate did it in only four!"

"That's impressive. She sounds like a very capable woman."

"Mhmm! And Ryan and Esposito-those are her partners- wrote me a letter, too!"

"That's very cool, Alexis. It sounds like this is something you're excited about."

Alexis' head nodded vigorously. "I am! I can't wait until I actually get to meet her."

"Yeah, I bet. Hey, will you pass the salad?"

And just like that, the conversation was over, reverting back to Meredith and this other opportunity coming up that she had a good feeling about.

xx

After dinner, Alexis took her notebook and retreated to the quiet haven that was her room. She dug out her cellphone from the bottom of her backpack, where it had been since this morning. She'd tentatively asked for a cellphone a few months ago as she became part of the increasingly smaller minority of those in her class without one. It wasn't a big deal to her, but she still felt the need to at least make the effort to fit in like everyone else. Her mom had flat out said no. Her dad was easily convinced. He firmly believed she needed one, especially now that she was getting to the age where she made plans with friends, and parties and sleepovers were more frequent. What if plans changed? What if she needed to be picked up? What if she needed to get ahold of someone?

There was also a more selfish motivation on her father's part, if he'd been more honest. The cellphone allowed him to call and text whenever he wanted. She often woke up to silly photos of animals, or had a funny youtube video waiting for her when school got out. His only stipulation was that it never interfered with school or her grades. The second he heard she had it taken away in class, or her grades suffered, she would lose phone privileges. This was just as well. Alexis wasn't as invested with the device the way many of her classmates were. She had a few games, sure, but for the most part, it was used for its intended purpose: to keep in touch.

She selected her dad from her favorites list and a silly picture filled the screen as it rang. He'd changed it again. This time the picture was of him cross-eyed and his tongue sticking out.

"Yee'ello."

Alexis smiled. He always thought he was so funny.

"Hi, dad."

"Hey, kiddo! What's up? How was your day?"

"It was good! We got our letters today."

"You did?!" He exclaimed. "What'd Kate have to say? Did she like your questions?"

This. This had been the reaction she had been hoping for.

"Yeah," she said, smiling as she recalled Kate's exact words. "She said they were wonderful and that she and her partners were impressed."

"That's my girl! Now, how about Chris? What'd he have to say about my letter?"

"God, dad… he wouldn't shut up about it."

"Did he show you the story I wrote?"

"He tried—"

"But you didn't read it?"

"Well, no, dad. I was busy trying to read _my_ letter from _my_ pen-pal."

"Mm," he hummed. "Fair enough."

"You can tell me about it, though," Alexis said, sitting on the edge of her bed.

"Oh, it wasn't anything spectacular or—"

"Da-ad. Just tell me."

"Okay, okay. You know that game you and I always play? The one when we're out places and trying to kill time?"

"People watching?" She asked.

"Yeah! And we make up the stories? Well, it was less watching and more like colliding, but uhm.. Yeah, so I was just going to this coffee shop to finish Chris' letter, you know how I get cooped up sometimes and need a change of scene to write?"

"Uh-huh," she encouraged patiently.

"Well, so I was walking in and totally not watching where I was going, and this woman was walking out and she wasn't looking where she was going either. So we end up walking right into each other. The cup of coffee she was holding spilled ALL over her—"

Alexis reacted in abject horror, "_No!" _

_"__Yes!"_ Her father returned, emphatic. "I'm talking coffee all over her nice coat and her phone and—"

"Was she mad?"

"Not even in the slightest- well, you could tell she wasn't happy about it, but she was totally cool about it."

"Did you at least buy her another cup of coffee?"

"No-"

"Da-ad," She admonished.

"Well, not that I didn't try. She was very adamant that she had places to be, and people to see."

"What was the story you came up with for her?"

"Lawyer," he theorized. "Had a big case today, the one that would make or break her career. Things were all going well until a ruggedly handsome- and clumsy- man bumped into her, spilling coffee all over her court attire."

Rick continued to narrate his short story, and Alexis waited for him to finish.

"You have a weird imagination," Alexis informed her dad. "Hey, that reminds me—"

"My weirdness reminds you?"

Alexis rolled her eyes even though he wasn't there to see her. "No, your story. It reminded me that Kate said she was going to be a lawyer before she decided to become a detective."

"Oh, really? Well, maybe it was Kate I bumped into today-" Rick said, chuckling at his own absurdity. "Does she look more like a police officer or a lawyer, do you think?"

"I don't know, but I hope it wasn't her you spilled coffee all over."

"Why? Would you be embarrassed that your dad made an ass of himself in front of your pen-pal?" He teased.

"No, I'd be mad because it meant you got to meet her first."

Rick laughed again. "Well, it's a good thing you don't have to worry about that, kiddo. I'm sure your Kate doesn't frequent the same coffee shops… Besides, what are the odds of that even happening?"

Alexis murmured her assent.

"How's your mom doing?" Rick asked, changing the subject.

"Good."

"Mm.. Have you been telling her all about your pen-pal? Did she say she's going to help you come up with your next five questions?"

"Yeah," Alexis said, even though she hadn't. "She said she would."

It always made Alexis uncomfortable when one parent brought up the other because it generally placed her in the middle. She did what she could to make the other parent appear as good as possible so she wouldn't have to hear the disapproval in their silence if she inadvertently brought up the other's shortcomings. They were her parents; she loved them both, but she hated having to feel like she had to choose sides.

"Well, that's good. I'm glad to hear it. Call me if you need any help with it or if you just want to say hey."

"Okay."

"Thanks for calling, Lex."

She smiled. "Welcome."

"Goodnight, pumpkin… I love you."

"Love you too, dad."

She ended the call and set the phone on her nightstand to start getting ready for bed. Alexis played her father's story over in her head as she brushed her teeth. There had been something about his story that had struck her in a funny way and she was trying to figure out what it was.

Her toothbrush slowed in its rotation. She hastily spit and rinsed the bristles before wiping her mouth. She left the toothbrush on the bathroom counter and ran to her bedroom. Crouching over her backpack, she searched her folder for Kate's letter.

She turned the envelope over in her hands, looking critically at the stains. Alexis pulled the letter out and flipped to the last page, rereading the words she'd already called to mind.

_PS_ _Sorry about the coffee stains. I had a little mishap this morning and didn't have the time to rewrite._

Alexis looked again at the stains to the letter and the envelope. They were minimal at best. Her father had made it out to be much more than what was evidenced on the letter.

_"__The cup of coffee she was holding spilled ALL over her. I'm talking coffee all over her nice coat and her phone-" _

The two images didn't match in her head.

She tucked the letter back inside its envelope and set it on her nightstand, on top of her notebook.

Maybe _she _was the one with the weird imagination.


	8. Chapter 8

The next day when they were finishing up their letters, Alexis learned against Chris' desk. Ever her father's daughter, Alexis indulged her curious imagination.

"Can I see that story my dad wrote you?"

Chris didn't look up, but continued writing.

"Nope."

Irritated, but undeterred, Alexis demanded to know why not.

"I tried to show you yesterday. You didn't wanna see it."

His eyes left the paper long enough to meet hers. "Sorry," she said, not sorry at all.

"Come on, Chris… Please?"

"Uh-uh."

He went back to writing.

Alexis looked around her to make sure Ms. Blake was still on the other side of the room. She leaned in and pinched him hard on the arm.

He recoiled as he exclaimed, "OW!"

Alexis held her hand out. "Just for, like, five minutes, then you can have it back."

Still rubbing the red patch of skin, he handed her the letter.

"I'm totally telling your dad."

"You do that," she told him, starting to read the letter as she wandered back to her seat.

It was pretty much exactly as her father had recounted the night before, except for the added dramatic flair Rick had included for Chris' benefit.

She chewed on her lip as she scanned the story a third time. Alexis didn't know what she was looking for, or what she expected to find, but, whatever it was, it wasn't there. She reigned in her imagination as it accepted its own impossibilities.

She left her father's letter on the corner of her desk. Chris could come get it. Her own letter back to Kate, as well as the one to her partners, was mostly done. She separated the pages and added her post script.

xx

This week, it was Kate rather than Espo who eagerly anticipated the arrival of the next letter.

On Wednesday, it arrived.

Esposito was in the middle of typing up a search warrant when Kate hopped up to sit on the corner of his desk.

"Guess what I got…"

She held up the envelope with a grin before looking around for her other partner.

"Where's Ryan?"

"Yo! Ryan!" Esposito yelled.

Ryan stuck his head out of the break room. Kate held up the letter so he could see. His head disappeared from the doorway and he returned a few minutes later carrying a mug of coffee.

"Did she write one for me and Javi?"

"I don't know," Kate shrugged. "I haven't opened it yet."

Ryan smiled as he looked at Javi. "Guess she didn't take you up on your pen-pal offer."

"Hey!" Espo glared. "You don't know that yet. This could just be Kate's final pity letter."

Kate stared him down as her fingers started to slide underneath the sealed flap.

She set the envelope to the side and she pulled out its folded contents. She counted three separate pages. She dropped Esposito's in front of him. It narrowly missed the desk and forced him to retrieve it from the floor. Kate hid a smile at his muttered profanity as she held Ryan's out for him to take.

They each read their letters, Kate taking longer as hers, of course, was far more detailed. Ryan and Esposito had already traded to read the other's.

"So," Kate said, looking up from her letters to the boys.

"What'd she have to say to my most _beloved_ partners?"

"Okay, one- I resent the tone. It implies that we aren't beloved," Esposito said. "And, two… this is what she had to say to Ryan."

_Dear Kevin, _

_First, I want to say thank you for writing me a letter. You didn't have to, but I'm really glad that you did. You seem like the responsible one. Is Esposito as sarcastic as he seems—_

Kate chuckled. "She could pick up on that from your letter?"

"I was sincere," Esposito said defensively. "I said some serious things…"

"Okay, okay," Kate returned, still chuckling. "Keep going. I'm sorry."

_You guys sound like you all balance each other really well, and I'm glad you guys have one another to look out for each other. _

_To answer your question about why Kate is my pen-pal if I want to be a writer, it was because some of us wanted the same jobs and couldn't decide. Ms. Blake decided to just write them all on popsicle sticks and then we could draw our own. Some people ended up trading, but I didn't. It was nice for me because my dad's a writer, so I kind of already know a lot about that. Now, I get to learn about being a detective. _

Esposito paused.

"Did you know that?" He asked Kate. "That her dad is a writer?"

Kate shook her head. "No. Up until this last letter, she'd only mentioned her mom."

"Huh," he said. "Harper… Harper…Can you think of any writers with that last name?"

"Harper Lee," Ryan offered.

Esposito and Kate both checked to make sure he was kidding.

He was.

"See?" Ryan asked. "I can be funny."

"Yeah… That was a real knee slapper," Esposito muttered before starting to read again.

_I'm sorry that your wife was sick. _

Kate smiled at Alexis' sweet sincerity.

_It's nice that you'd leave to take care of her. You sound like a really nice person. Thanks again for writing me. _

_Your friend, _

_Alexis _

Esposito smiled, looking at his friend.

"Aw."

"What'd she have to say to Esposito?" Kate asked, craning to read the letter in Ryan's hands. Knowing looking at it upside down made it hard to read, Ryan began to read it aloud.

_Dear Esposito, _

_Thank you for writing me. Your letter made me laugh. _

Kate glanced at Esposito. "Aw, you made her laugh."

He shook his head as he waited for Ryan to read the next sentence. She'd given him a compliment… and quickly taken it away.

_Only people who aren't funny say they're funny. _

"And there's a tiny smiley face after that," Ryan informed Kate.

_Just kidding. I bet you're all very funny. _

_I don't mind that Kate shared my letters, and I especially don't mind that you and Kevin wrote me one. It felt special and I feel like I was able to get an even better idea of what it is to be a detective. I like that you guys are like a family. I hope that whatever I end up doing, I'm lucky enough to work with people I really like and respect. _

_I don't think that I will get tired of Kate or get bored with her letters, but thank you for saying it would be okay to write to you. _

Kate smirked at Esposito.

"Ha! Told ya. We're practically bonded."

Esposito refused to meet Kate's smug grin and Ryan gave him a look of pity.

"At least she was polite about rejecting you…"

"Rejection's rejection. Ain't no biggie."

He sniffed as he brushed his nose with his thumb, the picture of machismo.

"And then she just signed it, _Your friend, Alexis." _

"She's so cute, I can't stand it," Kate said.

"You don't even like kids."

"_Most _kids," she corrected. "And it's not that I don't like them… It's just…"

"They're not your thing." Ryan finished.

Kate rolled her eyes at his bored tone as he repeated her verbatim.

"Not yet, anyway," Esposito said. "You just wait a few years and you'll meet a guy and then you'll have yourself a whole bunch of kids."

He dodged her punch with a laugh.

"Alright, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" He cried as she pinched him hard.

"Hey," Ryan said, taking pity on his bigmouth partner. "Kate, you going to read us what she wrote you?"

"Nope." She was still annoyed with their comments. "I think I'll keep this one for myself."

She snatched the envelope from Esposito's desk and retreated to her own. Kate took out a piece of paper to start writing her response. She looked over the letter again.

_Dear Kate, _

_I had been really nervous about the questions. I didn't want to ask any dumb ones, but I also just wasn't sure what to ask in the first place. _

_When you described reading with your mom on rainy days, I could picture it perfectly. On rainy days, I usually read by myself or if I'm at my dad's, we'll make hot chocolate-chocolate milk if it's summer- and watch the rain fall over the city. When I was little, my dad used to read me the books I wanted, but he'd also tell a lot of his own. He still does. He has a crazy imagination, but I guess that makes sense since he's a writer. He can make stories about anything. Like, there's this game we play when we go places, and it's like people watching, except you give them entire stories. He says it's a good writing exercise, but I think he just likes making stuff up. His latest one was about this lady he spilled coffee all over at a coffee shop the other day. _

The same curious prickling that had caused her pause the first time stopped her again. The other day, was that yesterday? The day before last? Last week? It couldn't possibly be… But then—

_I think you would probably like my dad's books. He writes murder mysteries. _

Kate had recognized the man whom she'd encountered twice in the coffee shop as Richard Castle- Rick, as he'd introduced himself.

But Castle and Harper?

Was Castle a nom de plume? Maybe Harper was Alexis' mom's maiden name? It sounded like they weren't together…

Kate tried to collect her thoughts as they ran wild. She was getting carried away with herself. Why not just ask Alexis in her next letter?

_About the questions I asked you about your work, you answered them really well. Thank you for making it so that I could understand. The procedures are much different and more complex than I thought they would be, but I think I understood what you were saying. I already started working on my presentation for the class. I'm doing a poster board. I already know how I want to do it! _

_I don't really have anything fun planned for this weekend. My best friend Paige and I might go see a movie with her aunt who's in town for the week. Other than that, nothing very exciting. Last weekend was a lot of fun though. I was at my dad's and he took me to a play. Did you ever see the movie Matilda? It was based on Roald Dahl's book. It is one of my all time favorite books/movies/ and now plays. It was just amazing. Wicked had been my favorite until I saw this one. I already really want to go back and see it, even though I just saw it last week. _

_What about you? What do you do for fun on the weekends? Do you have them off or do you work every day of the week? _

_Oh, yeah… We're supposed to ask another five questions— _

_What is a common misconception about being a homicide detective?_

_What are the steps you go through when you investigate?_

_How would you say being a detective has changed you?_

_I know that you said you can't imagine not being a detective, but do you ever regret it? Or wonder what your life would be like if you'd become a lawyer instead? _

_Do you have any advice for people that want to be a police officer or a detective?_

_I hope these ones were as good as you thought the last ones were. _

_I'm really looking forward to meeting you, Kate. I kind of feel like I already know you, just from your letters. _

_Have a good day/week/weekend!_

_Your friend, _

_Alexis _

_PS What did Kevin mean when he said you play things down? _

Kate tapped her pen on her desk as her eyes wandered over to land on Ryan. He carried on a conversation over the phone, oblivious to her stare.

"Beckett—"

Kate immediately turned to find Montgomery standing in the doorway of his office. He motioned her in with a nod of his head.

She quickly tucked the letter back in the envelope and stuck in her purse so she wouldn't forget to bring it home with her later. It was probably better she waited anyway; like the last set of questions, these ones would take some thought.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Things should start pulling together in the next few chapters.. If you haven't already, I'm curious to know what you made of the glimpse into Alexis and Meredith's relationship, or what you see coming down the line. As always, thanks for reading :) **


	9. Chapter 9

"So can we?"

Alexis looked up at her mother uncertainly.

"I don't know, Alexis—"

"But Mom…"

"I said I'd think about it, I don't want to hear anything more about it for the rest of the night. You can let Paige know in the morning."

Alexis swallowed her sigh and went upstairs. She picked up her phone to text her friend.

_She said she'd think about it. She'll tell me in the morning if I can go or not. _

Alexis wasn't at all surprised when her phone vibrated almost instantly after having sent the text.

**just let me know asap… My mom needs to know how many tickets to get for tomorrow night. **

Alexis chewed on her lip as she tapped out her reply.

_I know. Sorry I don't have an answer yet. You know how my mom can be. _

**no worries, Al- I'll tell my mom you don't know yet. Text me when you know. **

Alexis left her phone lying on her bed and went over to where her backpack lay on the floor. She folder her legs beneath her and emptied her book bag. She took out Kate's latest letter.

_Alexis—_

_Don't ever feel nervous to ask me questions- asking questions is how you learn. You shouldn't worry about asking any "dumb" ones either. I won't tell you there is no such thing as "dumb questions," because I believe that there is... You wouldn't believe some of the ones I've gotten over the years, but a dumb question coming from _you _seems unlikely. Be more confident in yourself, kiddo. You're smart, and you seem to have a better grasp than most of what is worth asking. _

_About your dad with the crazy imagination— I didn't know he was a writer. You say that he writes murder mysteries… Any you think I would know? _

Part of Alexis wished she hadn't brought up that her father was a writer. Especially since it appeared his genre was the one Kate read. Her father was one of the most popular authors in the murder/mystery genre, right up there with Stephen King and James Patterson… Odds are Kate knew him, or had at least heard of him… Wouldn't that change how Kate saw her? Alexis was honest with herself enough to know that it was because of her own selfishness that she no longer wished to find out if it had been Kate who'd her father had run into, or to reveal her father's identity at all… After all, wasn't that her reason for using her middle name instead of her last?

Was it selfish to want to be liked for who she was than who she had for a father?

_That's awesome to hear you've already started working on your presentation! I always waited until the last possible moment to start, but my poster boards, to be honest, always turned out great. I loved making the visual presentations, but I never liked actually having to present in front of the class. I still don't care much for public speaking, but it's now something I find tolerable in its monotony. _

_I actually think I have caught Matilda on tv before, when I was flipping through channels one night. I missed the ending because I fell asleep, but, from what I saw, it was quite cute. _

Alexis smiled as she had a hard time imagining an adult in their pjs one night just flipping through tv channels and settling on a children's movie.

_I'm assuming that by the time you get this, the weekend will have already passed and you'll be starting your week. So, in that case, I hope you got to go see a movie with your best friend, or that you did something fun at the very least. _

_We do not really get weekends off. We hardly get any days off, to be honest. Sometimes, we'll be given a day after a closing a particularly long or demanding case, but there is always, always, _always_, another one waiting to be solved._

_Now on to your questions…_

_A common misconception about being a homicide detective… hmm… _

_Well, I think because of all the tv shows and action movies, a lot of people assume homicide division is the most difficult division to work.. which, it is and it isn't. It's difficult emotionally a lot of the times, but in terms of clearance rates, homicide is actually one of the highest. We'll get tough cases from time to time, seemingly impossible to solve, but generally, in comparison to most other divisions, our clearance rates are quite high. One of the hardest divisions to work in, in comparison I believe, is burglary or theft.. arson too, maybe. I am not saying that what we do in homicide isn't difficult, I just think most people overlook the difficulty of the other divisions._

_Can you guess why it might be that we have higher clearance ratings than burglary or theft? _

_Steps we go through when we investigate… Well, I guess it depends on the case. Sometimes it's as easy as A, B, C, and other times, we go from A to Z and back to A several times over. Typically, we look into the victim's immediate family or friends. At least half of all homicides are committed by people the victim knew, so that's where we try to start. So, we'll ask questions like Who was the last person to see them alive? Was there anyone who wanted to hurt them? Any financial trouble? Problems at work? Problems at home? We kind of try to create a picture of who the victim was, and a timeline leading up to their death. It's like piecing together a puzzle. We go wherever the evidence takes us. _

_In terms of legalities and the actual procedural process, once we've obtained probable cause, we can get a warrant and make an arrest, which is when we physically take the person into custody. We then "book" them. Booking is when we fill out the paperwork and do things like fingerprinting, and make a record of the investigation and subsequent arrest. After being arrested (usually within a few hours), the suspects have their first appearance. This is when a judge will tell them of the charges being brought up against them. Following the first appearance, there is a preliminary hearing, possibility for indictment, an arraignment, the criminal trial, and finally their sentencing. _

_Again, I'm not sure how in depth of an answer you're looking for, but I can explain any or all of these steps more clearly, need be. _

_How would I say being a detective has changed me… Hmm.. _

_In a few words, I think it's made me a more focused person. It gave me a direction when I felt I didn't have one. I would also say, it's made me realize that not everything is black and white. The world is a mess of gray. _

This was one of Alexis' favorite answers Kate had given so far. And also one of the most puzzling. Kate was honest without revealing much of anything. All of the questions pertaining to her work were detailed, articulate. Any that touched on her personally didn't give half as much insight.

_Do I ever regret being a detective? _

_Sometimes. Usually when I get called out on a case at three in the morning after already pulling too long a shift. It's when I'm overtired, when I haven't had time to recharge, you know? I think any job feels hard to do if you start feeling burned out. Luckily, I don't have these moments all that often. Becoming a detective may not have been what I had imagined for myself at your age, or even five, six years later, but I think it was where I needed to be.. Where I _need _to be. When you find something that gives your life purpose, you hang on to that. Always hang on to that. Life's weird sometimes and has a way of going topsy-turvy and it helps if you feel like you have something to anchor you. That's what this job is to me. _

_And as for if I ever wonder what my life would be like if I'd become a lawyer instead… I used to. I used to wonder that a lot. But if I were a lawyer, I imagine many of the things in my life would have gone a lot differently. I try to stay away from the what ifs. When you get hung up on what could have been, you kind of forget to look at what can be. _

_Any advice I have for people that want to be a police officer or a detective? _

_Stay out of trouble. Anything past that, I guess I would have to say to take as it comes. You might change your minds five times over, or you might want to still be a police officer ten years down the road. Either way, take advantage of the opportunities that come your way; actively pursue your dreams, don't wait around hoping it'll fall in your lap by chance. You want to be a police officer? You do everything in your power to make it happen. _

_These questions were just as wonderful as the last ones, Alexis. Great work!_

_I also hope you have a great day/week/weekend! _

_Your friend, _

_Kate_

_PS No one knows what Ryan means, not even Ryan.. On another note, I can't wait to meet you either, Alexis— only a couple of weeks left! _

Alexis smiled as she slowly folded up the letter. She was practically counting down the days already.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Sorry for the delay in updates- I was under the weather for a while, and I had family fly into town, so I've been a bit busy playing catch up in school and such. It's short update, but I hope you enjoyed :)**


	10. Chapter 10

"God, sometimes I hate my job."

Kate blew out a puff of air as she dropped a heavy stack of files on her desk. The files slammed on the table and a noticeable cloud of dust rose into the air.

"Yeah, but not, like, all the time, right?" Ryan asked, wheeling his chair over to her desk like it were a wheelchair. His question wasn't really looking for an answer and he quickly shot off another. "Where'd Espo go?"

"Here."

The answer came as Esposito rounded the corner with another small box of files. He set these down on a chair he had kicked over to Kate's desk. He thumbed through the files, pulling two or three out at a time. These, although not as dusty as Kate's had been, left a gritty feeling on the tips of his fingers.

"You really think we're going to find anything in these?" Ryan asked, grabbing one off the top and flipping it open.

"Probably not."

Both Ryan and Esposito's eyes lifted from their reading to look at Kate who's face was drawn into an expression of determined focus. Feeling their eyes on her, she glanced up.

"What?" She asked.

"Well, why are we doing this then?" Esposito wanted to know.

She raised her eyebrows at Esposito's question.

'Because we have nothing else." She paused for a beat before lightly asking, "Unless you've been holding out on a better idea?"

Esposito's eyes rolled on their way back down to resume reading. Kate couldn't help but smile at their collective sighs. They'd worked together for so long, sometimes their synchronization was uncanny.

Hours passed, notes had been made, crossed off, potential leads evaporating. Esposito had long since banished the box to the floor and taken up a high school boy's bored, slumped position across Kate's desk.

Ryan rested his elbow on her desk and propped his head in his hand as he scanned what felt like his thousand and first file.

They heard a muffled shatter and a moment's pause before they made out a tired, "dammit."

Kate returned empty handed to her desk a few minutes later and dropped in her seat.

"Is it bad if I just kicked the broken pieces under the counter?" She asked, referring to the coffee mug she'd just broken.

Esposito gave a half laugh, "You didn't…"

Kate made a face. "I wanted to. I may have missed so glass shards, so be careful when you guys go in there…"

"Yes, mom," Esposito deadpanned. Ryan jumped in. "No bare feet in the break room, got it."

"Ugh," Kate groaned. "How do you guys even have the energy to crack jokes. Two and half hours of this—" she smacked a hand down on the pile of files, "And I'm ready to take a nap."

Esposito flipped his file shut and pushed it away from him. Ryan, sensing the opportunity for a break, followed suit.

"Want to take a break?" Espo asked. "We can go get coffee, or maybe a late lunch."

Kate wrinkled her nose a little. Coffee did sound good, especially since her last cup had ended in a shattered mess on the break room floor. Not that that lukewarm, morning old cup of coffee would have diner her much good.

She looked at the files again. The to-do pile _was_ shrinking. Kate shook her head.

"No. I really just want to push through the rest of these. If there's nothing here, I want to call the husband again."

Ryan hesitated as Esposito grabbed his keys off his desk.

"You want me to stay and—"

"No, no… You guys go," Kate said. "I know how restless you two get if you're sitting too long."

"You sure?" Ryan asked doubtfully.

"Yeah. Not like I'm not used to doing all the heavy lifting around here anyway."

She smiled to show she was teasing. Esposito smacked Ryan on the arm as he passed.

"You want your usual?" He asked Kate.

"You know it."

She watched their retreating forms until the elevator doors closed behind them again.

xx

"You have to stop doing that, man."

Esposito stared back at his partner uncomprehendingly. Ryan tilted his head in response.

"You know she's never gonna take you up on that date," Ryan said as they both reached for their coffees. Esposito took his from the rather preoccupied barista.

Esposito thanked her with a smile and made a face when she didn't acknowledge his thanks, but resumed preparation of the accumulating coffee orders.

"She doesn't even notice me, bro," Esposito said as they started for the door.

Esposito bumped into Ryan when he came to a sudden stop. His coffee spilled out of the hole in the lid and he nearly dropped Kate's.

"You made me spill," he griped to Ryan, trying to hold the coffees while wiping his hand on his jeans.

"She look familiar to you?" Ryan asked, pointing to a young girl waiting at the counter wither mom. "Like she could be—"

"Alexis—" The barista announced, holding out a small drink.

The boys grinned at each other, neither pausing as they both abandoned their progress to the door.

The two only slowed as they approached the high top table the pair had sat at. Esposito's shoulder knocked into Ryan's as he redirected them towards the counter where people still waited for their orders.

"Wait, wait, wait. Hold up."

"What?" Ryan asked, looking past his partner at the redheaded girl leaning over her steaming drink.

"What are we even gonna say?"

"Uh… Hi, for starters?" Ryan answered. He wondered why his friend had suddenly faltered in an uncharacteristic shyness.

"Isn't it kinda weird? I mean, we only wrote to her, like, once…"

"Javi— you're being ridiculous," Ryan said, tapping him on his forearm and causing the liquid to bubble out of the top once more. "Come on."

Esposito at his back, Ryan approached the mother and daughter with the ease of one who regularly finds himself making new friends.

"Hi," he started off brightly, looking first at the woman and then at Alexis. Both Alexis and her mother wore similar expressions of confusion. Ryan looked back at the woman. "My name's Kevin Ryan. I think your daughter is doing a pen-pal project with my partner…"

As soon as he'd introduced himself, Alexis had perked up, staring intently at Ryan for a second before catching Esposito's surreptitious glance.

Alexis wore a wide grin as she turned to her mom.

"Mom, these are Kate's partners! Kevin and Esposito! Remember, I told you how they wrote me?"

She turned back to the guys, beaming.

"How come you guys are here?" She took in the extra up in Esposito's hand and started looking around. "Is Kate here too?"

Esposito shook his head. "No, but I'm gonna bet she's going to wish she had been!"

Alexis' face fell for a quick send before she recovered her smile, along with her excitement. She gestured to the chairs on either side of her.

"You guys want to sit?"

As Esposito looked to take his cues from his partner, he wasn't sure which of the adults present felt most out of sorts. Alexis' mother had yet to get a word in and these two men she didn't know were pulling up chairs.

"Alexis," her mother said in a thin voice. "Don't forget we told Paige and her mother I'd drop you off at 4. We still have to run home to pick up your stuff.."

"Yeah, I know," Alexis said quickly. She looked at Esposito expectantly, the flush on her chest and cheeks deepening. Her heart raced, faltering a few times as she struggled with her words. She was excited at this unexpected meeting, but underneath the excitement was a paralyzing self consciousness.

When she realized Esposito was just as much at a loss for words as she was, they both turned to Ryan and her mother who was now introducing herself. Ryan pulled her into conversation easily, and occasionally asked Alexis a question while simultaneously shooting looks at Esposito that Alexis could not quite read.

"So…" Esposito gave a strangled cough. "How've you been? Last I heard you'd been to see Matilda…"

"Yeah… But that was a couple of weeks ago."

"Oh." Esposito responded lamely. "I forget how much time passes between letters. Have you gotten Kate's back yet?"

The corners of Alexis lips quirked upwards. "Yesterday. I haven't written back yet, though."

"She's going to be so bummed she didn't come when Ryan ad I tell her we ran into you."

"Do you think she could come now?"

"Well," Esposito paused. Alexis' breath caught. "She was kind of in the middle of something when we left. Why don't we call her and see?"

Esposito pulled out his phone and was ringing her a second later. Alexis watched with bated breath to see if Kate would answer. When she heard the voicemail pick up, she felt a rush of disappointment and relief.

"Yeah.." Esposito said, putting his phone back in his pocket. "She's probably still finishing up the files we'd been working on."

Alexis nodded in understanding. "That's okay. I know she's busy." Her eyebrows started to knit together. "Why aren't you guys helping?"

Esposito's face slackened and Ryan broke from his conversation with Meredith to say, "I told you we should have stayed. See, now we look like deadbeat partners."

"We're not deadbeat…" Esposito turned from Ryan to fix Alexis with serious eyes. "We are _not_ deadbeats. We offered to make a coffee run, so if anything, we're actually going above and beyond."

Alexis smiled at his crafted excuse. She found his comical defenses reminiscent of her father. She imagined they'd get along well.

She was about to tell him as much when she found her mother rising from her seat, and pulling her purse off from the back of the chair.

"Alright, Alexis. We should get going.. You made a big to-do about going to Paige's tonight, and we'd better get going."

To Ryan and Esposito, she said, "It was a pleasure to meet you both. I know Alexis is probably beyond excited to have been able to put faces to your names—"

"_Mom_—"

Ryan and Esposito smiled at her endearing embarrassment. Ryan reached out to shake Meredith's hand and Esposito did the same before taking his and Kate's coffees from the table.

Alexis looked at them both with bright eyes and a shy smile.

"It was really nice to meet you guys."

Ryan smiled as he told her likewise and Esposito dipped his chin like he were acknowledging royalty.

"Man, Kate is going to be so pissed when we tell her." Esposito said to Ryan as he followed him out of the meow bustling coffee shop.

They watched Alexis and her mom until her red hair was lost in a sea of towering black coats.

Right as Esposito had put the cruiser in drive, he felt his phone start to vibrate as it trilled its obnoxious tone.

Distractedly, he pulled it from his pocket and glanced at the screen before handing it over to Ryan.

"It's Beckett. Will you answer and tell her we're on our way back?"

Ryan slid his thumb across the lock screen.

"Beckett. It's Ryan," he said as soon as he'd answered the phone. "Yeah. We're on our way back now. Wait… Hold on just a sec—"

He pulled the phone away from his ear and pressed the speaker button.

"Okay, you're on speaker."

The line crackled and her voice filled the cruiser.

"I asked what was taking you guys so long. I finished the files, you two don't have to worry about wasting time to avoid working anymore."

A smile in his voice, Esposito asked, "Did anything shake out?"

"No. I called the husband again, though. He's going to come in on Monday."

"Why not sooner?"

"He's out of town on business."

"Huh. His wife is murdered and he's going on business trips the weekend after."

"Yeah. I know," Kate said. "struck me as odd as well. We'll see."

She paused. "So where are you guys? You never answered my questions."

"You never gave us a chance," Esposito replied.

Ryan angled the phone towards himself in order to speak.

"You'll never guess who we just ran into."

"What?" She asked. "Who?"

The boys shared a grin. "Guess." Esposito commanded.

"I'm not guessing. Either tell me, or don't. It makes no difference to me."

"Aw. Come on. You're no fun."

Esposito laid on his horn as someone cut him off. Ryan put his hand on the roof to brace himself as Espo sped up to ride on the guy's bumper. Mumbling curses, Esposito gradually laid off to take his turn.

"So you're not going to guess?"

"Nope."

"Alexis," Ryan finally said. Kate wasn't one for guessing unless she had something to go off, and even then she'd rather just have been told.

There was another staticky pause as Kate processed.

"Alexis, Alexis? As in my Alexis?"

"Well…" Esposito started saying. "I don't know about _your _Alexis, but—"

"My pen-pal Alexis—"

"Yeah!" Ryan answered. Esposito shot him a look for cutting his teasing short.

On the other end of the line, Kate sat back into her chair.

"You're kidding!"

"Nope. Serious as can be."

"No way."

The boys were full of stories. She'd stopped questioning where they came up with such things a _long_ time ago.

"No, for real." Esposito said. Ryan again positioned the phone closer to himself in order to be heard.

"Yeah, she was there with her mom."

"Damn," Kate lamented. "I guess I really should have taken that break and gone with you guys."

"Tried to tell you—"

"Ugh. And now you've both met my pen-pal before me."

Esposito grinned. Precisely the reaction he had been after.

"That's right, we did."

"Oh, shut up, would you? What was she like?"

"Sweet," Ryan answered. "Really sweet. A little shy—"

"She got all flushed and shy," Esposito interrupted.

"Aww." Kate paused. "And her mom? What was she like?"

Esposito looked at Ryan. He'd spoken with her most.

"Uh," Ryan hesitated. "She was nice. A little self—"

"Absorbed," Esposito finished. "At least that was what I got."

Ryan said nothing. He probably wouldn't have said it in quite as blunt a term; he'd only known her for less than ten minutes.

"Really?" Kate asked, surprised. If she'd had to guess based on her impression of Alexis alone,s he would have figured her for having two reliable and extremely _present_ parents.

"What makes you say that?"

"She was just—"

"A little distracted," Ryan inserted, attempting to smooth over Meredith's image a little. He felt guilty for speaking down on someone they'd hardly spent enough time with to pass judgement. "Just not fully present, you know?"

"Mm.." Kate hummed. There was a disappointment that crept in. The smallest tinges of sadness, too as she imagined Alexis' mother, her mind conjuring up details the boys hadn't even hinted at, but that she thought of nonetheless: a career driven mother, blackberry in hand, schedule chock-full, limited time and energy to focus on her kid. She'd gone to school with kids like that, had friends with parents like that. There was always disappointment present, a longing to have their unfulfilled needs met.

"But maybe she just has a lot going at the moment," Ryan said. "We talked to her for what, like, ten minutes?" Ryan asked Esposito.

"Mm," Kate hummed again.

Another thing she'd learned about the boys: their first impressions were nearly as spot on as hers.

"But what about Alexis? She excited to meet you guys or did you weird her out by introducing yourselves?"

"I think she was excited…" Ryan said slowly.

"Definitely excited," Esposito said. "I think she'd have been more excited if you'd been there too, though… I tried calling you—"

"I know. I just saw it, that's why I was calling you back."

"Oh.. well, yeah… Now you know why."

The line crackled. "How random," Kate mused after a moment. "So, you guys are on your way back now?"

"Yeah—"

"About five minutes out."

"Alright. Well… I guess I'll see you two soon. My coffee probably isn't hot anymore, is it?"

Esposito's lips pulled downwards into a frown. Kate found her answer in his pause.

"I can heat it up."

Kate ended the call a couple of short seconds later. She couldn't believe she'd been that close to having gone with them. Well, it didn't matter much now, she told herself. The two months were coming to a close very soon anyway. What was another couple of weeks?

* * *

><p><strong>AN: loving, and appreciating all the love! Hope you liked the chapter...We are terribly close to what we're all waiting for, aren't we?! ;) **


	11. Chapter 11

Alexis waited until her mom had closed the door of the taxi and given their address to the driver before she erupted into a stream of exuberant chatter.

"Can you believe that that just happened?" Her tone matched the disbelief on her face. "And they just recognized me and decided to come over—"

"Yeah, honey," Meredith said while she was pulling her phone from her pocket. She checked the time and sent a text to Paige's mom before setting it down to rest in her lap. "I was a little thrown at first.. I couldn't figure out why they'd started talking to us until one of them introduced himself."

"Kevin." Alexis told her. "Kevin was the one who introduced himself. He's the blonde one. Wasn't he nice? Well, they're both really nice, but Kevin's just…" She shrugged her shoulders.

Ryan was easy to get along with. Esposito was harder to read. If only she knew how much harder to read Kate would be.

When her mother didn't say anything, she asked, "Didn't you think they were nice? What'd you think of them?"

"Yes, Alexis," Meredith agreed for what she imagined was likely the third or fourth time since they first left the coffee shop. "I already told you that I thought they were both very nice."

"Yeah, but… What'd you _really_ think of them?"

"I told you, honey. I thought it was very sweet of them to come say hi. They were both very pleasant, and I'm glad you got to meet them."

Alexis looked out the window for a few seconds, but turned back to face her mother when her answer no longer satisfied her. She was geared up, and she wanted her mother to be too.

"What did you and Kevin talk about?"

"Oh, I don't know," Meredith said, shrugging a shoulder. "He told me a little about himself and what he and his partners do and he said how much Kate was enjoying the pen-pal thing—"

A smile overtook her lips as she asked, "He said that?"

"Yeah.. and said they were all really getting a kick out of your letters.. Something to look forward to each week."

Alexis cupped her hand over her mouth, covering her growing smile as she looked out of the window again.

Of course, she quickly lost interest in the passing streets and masses of people.

"What else?" She asked.

"Mm.. I don't know, he asked about you and school. He said they'd all been impressed with your letters and the questions you asked." Meredith smiled at her daughter. "They all think you're _very _bright."

Alexis could feel her cheeks start to heat, but not in the fierce way they had in the coffee shop. The taxi cab lurched to a stop in front of their building, awkwardly situated between two parked cars, idling.

Alexis started to climb out as her mother retrieved a credit card from her wallet to pay. Alexis waited for Meredith at the front doors of their building.

"Did he say anything else?"

"God, Alexis, you'd think it was the world's most important conversation with the way you're going on about it," Meredith said, pressing the button for the elevator.

"We didn't talk long. You were there; you'd know. Really, it was all just," she shrugged as they entered the elevator. "Normal stuff. Nothing too special. He was nice, friendly.. He was cute, actually."

"Mom, Kevin's married. He has a wife—"

"I know. I saw his ring. It was merely an observation…"

"Mom! You always—"

Meredith's eyebrows rose sharply at Alexis' tone. The elevator doors opened on their floor.

"What? I always what?"

"Nothing," Alexis replied, feeling her high come crashing down. All it took sometimes was a remark, a little comment, or tone of voice. She couldn't articulate why it sometimes rubbed her the wrong way.

When they entered their apartment, Alexis immediately started for her room.

"Are you getting your stuff together?" Meredith called after her.

"Already packed!" Alexis shouted back from her room.

She returned to the living room a few minutes later, a bag slung over one shoulder.

Meredith came in not long after her, having changed from her designer jeans and blouse to a cocktail dress and heels.

"Where are you going?" Alexis asked.

"After I drop you off, I have a meeting with a friend of mine. He's going to introduce me to the woman whose show he's been writing for. Apparently she has another one in the works, which means she'll be looking for actors to cast."

"Oh."

"Yeah." Meredith slipped into her trench coat and fluffed her hair. "It's something to do with the DC political scene. Crisis managers or something. It sounds like it could be good."

"What's a crisis manager?"

"I have no idea," Meredith answered, ushering Alexis out the door. "Do you have everything?" She double checked before locking the door.

They walked to the elevator together, the earlier rift only ten minutes previous already smoothing over.

"Danny didn't tell me much about it, but I'm really hoping to maybe get my foot in the door on this one. It could be good. Her last show's been running nearly nine years.."

"Really? Which one?" Alexis asked, following her mom into the elevator.

"That medical drama. You know, the one with… Oh, what's his name. Great hair, god, does he have great hair—"

Alexis' eyes widened as she figured out which one her mom was talking about. "_That _show? That would be… That would be, like a really big deal, wouldn't it?"

Most of the projects her mother went out for were ones with people she'd never heard of. But this one… It sounded like the people behind it could be a big deal.

"A _really _big deal. So, keep your fingers crossed for me tonight and hope they like me!"

Alexis smiled up at her mother.

"They'll love you, mom."

xx

Rick shut off the tv halfway through the movie- something he rarely ever did. He hated leaving anything unfinished, even if he _had _already seen it.

He'd felt out of sorts all night. There was an oddly heightened awareness of his empty loft. He hated whenever he realized how quiet it was, how still. When Alexis was here, she didn't even have to be in the same room, the entire loft felt different.

As Rick began shutting off lights on his way to his study, he felt more in touch than ever with his fears of inadequacy as a father. Maybe it was his phone call with Meredith earlier that had struck a nerve.

She'd called after some meeting with a supposed "friend" and his show-runner friends. It had gone really well; they'd asked her if she might be interested in a role they felt suited her perfectly. She would have to fly to LA for the audition in a few weeks, which was why she'd called to ask if he'd be willing to take Alexis for an additional week.

He'd readily agreed; he'd keep Alexis permanently if he thought Meredith would let him.

He should have asked for sole custody to begin with instead of insisting Meredith have partial custody as well. She was Alexis' mother, he'd told her, and as her mother, she had a responsibility to be in her life.

At least that's what he'd thought so early on. Years down the road, and he saw now that Alexis might-no, _would_- have been better off with him all along. And that made him feel guilty as hell.

In his study, Rick poured himself a drink.

It would help him sleep.

xx

Alexis thought of her mother later that night when she, Paige, and Paige's mother were sprawled out on the sofa in their pajamas. She really hoped it went well.

She startled when she felt fingers start to card through her hair. She lifted her head from Paige's mom's lap to look back at her. Emily smiled at her for a second before looking back at the tv as though it were a totally natural thing to do. And for her, it was. Paige lay on her mother's other side, her head also resting on her lap as her mother played with her hair. Unlike Alexis, Paige had been lulled to sleep by the comforting action.

Alexis settled her head back down on Emily's thigh. She'd so often envied her friend in these moments for having the kind of life she wanted. Paige didn't even realize that she sometimes took things as little as having her hair played with for granted.

It felt like such a silly thing to be envious of, but as Alexis quietly lay there watching television she was reminded of the discontent that always lay in wait. She resented the dissatisfaction that stirred on occasion, and berated herself as she always did for feeling so alone. She reminded herself of the mother who loved her, her father who she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt loved her. She was quite literally in the presence of two people who told her all the time she was family, and they loved her like family, and yet she still felt lonely.

She closed her eyes and wound back the day. She thought of Kevin and Esposito.. Of her conversation with her mother afterwards.

_They all think you're very bright._

_He said how much Kate was enjoying the pen-pal thing._

She wondered if Kate ever felt lonely, if anyone ever felt as lonely as she did sometimes.

xx

Kate didn't drag herself home until nearly midnight, and was practically dead on her feet. Things weren't going well with the case.

She flipped the lights on as she shut the door behind her and turned the deadbolt. Her place was so quiet, she felt a pang as she looked around her. Most nights it felt good to come home to an empty apartment, to have a space to unwind. Decompress. Other nights, she wondered what it would feel like to come home to something or someone.

She bent over to unzip her boots. She kicked them off, and her arches ached as she padded across the hardwood floor in socked feet.

Kate pulled the elastic band from her hair and massaged her head. She wandered into the kitchen and pulled open the door to the fridge only to frown at its contents. Nothing appealed to her at this late hour, and while she knew she shouldn't go to bed without eating something, she decided to do it anyway.

She filled a glass of water and carried it to her bedroom. She set it on her vanity in order to get out a pair of sweats and a tee. As she shed the day's clothes and pulled on her comfortable "pjs," she was hit with a whole other level of exhaustion. She went into the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth. The warmth of the washcloth was a welcome comfort, and she felt the slightest bit better having a fresh face. When she stared at her reflection, she saw that without the help of makeup, the bags under her eyes were exposed, and her eyes looked dreadfully dull.

It was one of those nights she felt the tiredness in her bones, the weariness sleep could not touch.

She shut off the bathroom light. Kate sat on her bed and started taking off her father's watch.

She laid it on her nightstand before reaching behind her to remove the necklace that felt heavier than it had in a while.

The necklace rested in the palm of her hand and she inspected the ring on its chain. Like arthritic joints ached on cold mornings, an old wound flared within her.

She placed the necklace besides the watch, and Kate leaned over and turned out the light.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: everyone has to have their ****_off_**** nights, don't they?**


	12. Chapter 12

**For ****_Adel Way~ Happy Birthday! _**

* * *

><p>A week passed, and Kate reclaimed her peace of mind- most of it, anyway. When she walked to her desk Tuesday morning, a letter lay waiting for her. She hadn't even bothered to check yesterday to see if anything had come, and now she wished she would have.<p>

She sat down in her chair, and pulled herself closer to the desk. Inside were two pieces of paper, one typed, one handwritten, just as her very first letter had been. There was a sinking feeling as she read the printed letter that announced the project was drawing to a close.

Funny enough, she'd had the same feeling when she read the first letter and found out she'd been signed up for the project in the first place, she wouldn't have believed she'd be feeling the same way two months from then.

_Dear Pen-Pals, _

_As we end the near of the two months, I would like to take this time to thank each and every one of you for agreeing to partake in this project. It has been a wonderful journey, and I cannot believe how quickly the time has gone._

_This is the first year I have done a project like this, and I think it was a huge success, in no small part due to the time and energy you all so generously gave. I know that your jobs and your personal lives have their own demands, but I can honestly say that this meant a lot to your pen-palees. This has been a great learning experience for them and the advice and knowledge you have passed along is invaluable. _

_All this being said, I would like to make an amendment to my earlier letter, in which it was said that the class would be making a field trip at the end of the two months to visit each pen-pal and their place of work. This was overly ambitious, and I had not foreseen the time it would take to make this feasible for everyone's schedule. _

_Instead, I would like to propose an alternative solution. The kids have been writing a paper and preparing presentations on what they've learned. They will be giving presentations on their pen-pals and their occupations to the class, as well as to their parents. It was suggested that the pen-pals be invited so that not only do the kids still get the opportunity to meet you all in person, but to provide a chance for them to ask any additional questions they or their classmates may have. _

_While you are in no way obligated to come, nor can I require you, I ask that you do your best to make an appearance, however brief it may be. The kids were really looking forward to meeting you after all the time. To say it would mean the world to the kids for you to come would be an understatement. _

_The date for presentations is tentatively set for Friday, October 17th at 1pm, but I am willing to adjust however I can to better accommodate _your _schedules. Please email or give me a call to let me know what works for you. Obviously, it may not be possible to accommodate all schedules, but I would like to do my best. _

_Again, I cannot thank you enough for making this such a phenomenal experience. I hope that you found it to be as enjoyable as we did. _

_Sincerely, _

_Sarah Blake_

Kate set the letter down to look at her calendar. It wasn't like she could pencil in homicides ahead of time, but otherwise there weren't any appointments that would keep her from being able to attend on the 17th.

She took out a pencil, in case the day or the time changed, and wrote in big capital letters, ALEXIS PEN-PAL PRES. 1pm. She circled it several times.

Once she'd done that, she picked up the letter Alexis had written. There was something sad about it being the last one.

_Dear Kate, _

_Ms. Blake says these are the last letters we get to send. I can't believe the two months are over. It felt like a long time when Ms. Blake first told us how long it would be, but now it seems like it was so short. I wish it were longer. _

_Your answers to my last questions were really interesting, especially the first one. I guess I had always thought that homicide was the hardest to solve. I think it's because of tv and movies, and even books. They have to make the murders really difficult to solve, otherwise people would just get bored, right? I wouldn't have guessed that burglary or theft is harder to solve than homicide. Does the reason homicides have higher clearance rates have to do with kind of what you said when you explained the steps you go through to investigate? You'd said at least half of all homicides are done by the victim's family or friend, right? So, then is it easier because you know that you're generally looking for someone the victim knew, and with burglaries or theft, it's more likely to be totally random? I don't really know, that's just my guess. _

_Anyway, I don't really know what else to say other than I wish we had longer to work on our projects. I learned a lot that I didn't know about being a police detective, and you gave really good advice. I've read some of my friends' letters they got from their pen-pals, and I know I shouldn't say this, but yours were the best. _

_I hope that you can come to our presentations.I know Ms. Blake probably told you in her letter, but it's on October 17th at 1pm. You don't have to come, but I really hope do. Thank you for everything, Kate. _

_Your friend, _

_Alexis_

_PS I'm glad the popsicle stick I picked was yours. _

Kate smiled to herself when she finished. It was like Alexis to answer the question Kate had posed in her last one even though she hadn't needed to. And it was like Alexis to answer it right. The brevity of the letter and the absence of a more personal touch was unlike her though, and she found herself wanting to know what Alexis had done over the weekend or what she'd thought of Ryan and Esposito. That she would have thought Alexis would at least mention..

Alexis was more closed off in this letter than she'd been in her first. Kate was suddenly struck by the thought that this was Alexis distancing herself.

_You don't have to _come.

Alexis didn't expect Kate to come to the presentations.

Kate knew she didn't have to, but she pulled out a sheet of paper and an envelope anyway.

_Alexis, _she wrote in flowing cursive. _I'll be there!_

Just as all the others had contained post-scripts, this one was no different.

_PS Not as glad as I am. _

While she was looking it over, wondering if she should add something more than simply "I'll be there," she felt the presence of someone as they leaned over her shoulder.

"Whatcha got there?"

Kate looked up to see Ryan.

"Letter from Alexis," she said. "Looks like it's the last one."

"The last one? Really?" Ryan asked.

Kate nodded. "Really. It has been about two months."

"Two months," he said, shaking his head. Where did time go? he wondered.

"I know, right?" Kate had asked herself the same thing. "It really flew by."

"So, what's it say?" Ryan asked, referring to the printed letter. "When are they coming to the precinct?"

"They're not."

Kate handed him the letter to read himself.

Upon finishing, Ryan looked up, appearing slightly bummed. "So, does that mean only you are invited?"

Kate couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Are you kidding me right now? You two weren't even pen-pals. You wrote her _a _letter. _One! _Besides, you guys already met her."

Ryan handed the paper back to Kate.

"I know… But, still.."

"Tell you what," Kate said. "If for whatever reason, I can't go, I'll send you two in my place…"

Under her breath, she added, "Because God knows I can't just send one of you without it turning into a huge fiasco."

"Heard that," Ryan retorted as he walked away from her desk. "But I'll take it. And I mean this in the nicest way possible… But I hope you get sick that day. Or get a flat tire. Or—"

"How is any of that _nice?" _

"Listen… You got to write the letters, I'm just saying we should get to do something too."

"Yeah, _I _wrote the letters. Me. I've developed a rapport, and-"

"Well, Javi and I met her. So, how's that for rapport?"

Kate stared at him, wondering what made him so cheeky this morning. She stared him dead in the eye as she folded her letter as is, and put it in the envelope.

"Yeah, well, come hell or high water, I'm going to be at that presentation."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Guess what's happening next chapter?!**


	13. Chapter 13

"Da-ad!"

Alexis looked over the landing of the second floor as she shouted at her father. He appeared a few seconds later, buttoning up his shirt. He held up a tie.

"Tie? Or no tie?"

"No tie," Alexis said.

Rick draped it over the bannister at the base of the stairs before taking the stairs two at a time.

"We're going to be late," Alexis told him as he followed her into her bathroom.

"No, we won't. We'll be just fine."

Rick picked up the curling iron. "Did you already have it plugged in?" He asked, even as he tapped his fingers quickly against the iron. The heat told him she had.

He set the iron to the side and waited for Alexis to hop up to sit in the sink.

Rick went to dig through the drawer for a clip, but Alexis held one up over her shoulder.

He took it from her, twisting some of her hair up as he did, and clipping it.

"Where's the spray?" He asked.

"Under the sink."

He found it in one of the baskets and uncapped the top before spritzing some of the UV protectant spray in her hair.

Rick sectioned off her hair and clamped the iron down, deftly wrapping the hair around the barrel.

He looked at his daughter in the mirror as he released the curl a few seconds later and grabbed the next section.

"You excited?"

Her face split into a grin. He released the next curl, placing it in front of her shoulder as he curled the next piece.

"Uh-huh!"

"Good," Rick said. "Me too."

As her curls multiplied, Alexis' excitement grew. She could barely sit still by the time Rick was finishing the last curl.

He fluffed her hair expertly, shaking out the tight curls so they fell loose the way Alexis liked.

She started to scoot off the counter, but Rick stopped her as he found a straight piece of hair that had escaped him.

"Last one," he promised, wrapping the strand around the barrel.

Alexis waited patiently for him to finish. As soon as she'd jumped down, he unplugged the curling iron and left it in the sink.

Together, they inspected his handiwork in the mirror.

"Good?" he asked.

She turned her head either way, appraising the curls. She tried to smooth down the fly aways that stuck up.

"Here," her dad said, crouching down to rummage around in the cabinet. He pulled out a pink bottle, and read the label before squeezing some of the cream into the palm of his hand.

"Not too much," Alexis warned as she peeked over his shoulder. "Or it'll look greasy, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah. I know." He rubbed his hands together before running them through his daughter's hair.

"Better?"

Again, she scrutinized her appearance in front of the mirror. She nodded as she turned to look up at her father.

"Perfect. Thanks, dad."

Rick smiled as he followed her out of the bathroom and into her room.

"You got it, kiddo. Now hurry up and get changed or we _will _be late."

"I know, I know, but I couldn't decide on what to wear!" Alexis grabbed him by the hand and tugged him over to her bed where her options were laid out.

"And I thought I would be the one we were waiting on," he murmured, looking at the options.

"I like your knitted dress," he said after a moment.

"Me too, but do you think it'll be too cold?"

"Not if you wear some tights, and your boots we just got."

"The tan ones? Will they go?"

"Yeah, they'll go great. Especially if you wear the peacoat we got to match. Since when have you wanted my fashion advice?"

Alexis refused to answer as she scooped up the dress and went over to her dresser to find some tights. She took these, and her boots, to the bathroom and returned a few minutes later looking like a poster child for kids.

"Good?" She asked, unsure as she smoothed the hem of the dress.

"Great!" He told her with a smile. He walked over to her closet and tugged the matching coat off its hanger. "Now let's get going."

xx

Kate stood in front of her closet in only a bra and underwear. They'd been the only things she hadn't had trouble picking out. She looked at her options, fingers dancing across hangers, pulling some out before quickly shoving them back.

Image was important. She wanted to look professional, but not uptight. Fashionable without being unreasonable. Basically, how she dressed every day. Today shouldn't be any different, yet she somehow couldn't decide on a single article of clothing.

Finally, and mostly because she was out of time, Kate settled on her fitted black slacks and a white button down. She pulled the tan blazer with the accented black collar off its hanger as well before also deciding to wear the skinny black tie she so rarely wore.

She dressed quickly, looking over her reflection in her floor length mirror critically. She buttoned the blazer as she turned to one side and then the other.

Like something straight out of a Banana Republic magazine is what Lanie had told her the first time she'd worn the ensemble.

Kate fought with her hair for several minutes, trying to work it into a bun. For whatever reason, her hair was choosing not to cooperate with her today, and it forced her to plug in the curling iron. Pressed for time, but refusing to forgo doing something with her hair, Kate put in loose curls that framed her face. If she was a little late to work, she was a little late to work.

Once she was finished, she hurriedly unplugged the iron and left in lying in the sink. She stepped into her favorite pair of boots and grabbed her overcoat off the back of the couch on her way out.

Kate had gotten as far as starting the car when she realized she had forgotten something. Not one to chance it, she turned off the car and locked it while she ran back inside.

xx

"So, 2 o'clock?" Rick asked.

Alexis, who'd been looking out the window, spun around to correct him.

"No. It's—"

"At one." Rick smiled. "I know. I was just teasing. I'll bring you lunch at 11:20 and hang out after."

Alexis smiled as she relaxed back into her seat.

"Do you know if your mom's coming today?"

"She said she was."

"And what about your pen-pal? What about Kate?"

Alexis grinned. "She said she'd be there."

"I bet you're pretty excited, huh?" He asked as he turned into the small school lot.

"I can't wait!"

The line of cars ahead of them moved forward and allowed Rick to pull up alongside the curb.

"Do you have everything, Lex? Your paper… poster board?"

"Brought it all in yesterday!"

"Of course you did."

Always ahead of the game.

He leaned over to kiss her cheek and she met him halfway, planting a quick peck on the stubble of his cheek.

"See you in a bit."

"Bye, dad," she told him before closing the door.

He watched her, curls bouncing, as she raced to meet the school bus her best friend Paige was on.

As he pulled away, Rick wondered what to do with his morning.

xx

"You ready for this afternoon?"

Kate rose from her crouching position as Lanie covered the body and followed the assistant out to give further instructions.

"We are at a crime scene," Kate told Esposito. "Can we focus on that, please?"

Esposito smirked at her clipped tone. "Aw, you're nervous," he teased. "Want me and Ryan to go instead? I think we can handle it."

Kate rolled her eyes as she wandered around the room.

"You would look for just about any excuse at this point to take my place, wouldn't you?"

Ryan entered the room, the stench of the body making him pause. He flipped through his notepad to the page he had just jotted down notes.

"Neighbor says they hadn't seen him in four or five days, but it wasn't unusual for him to disappear for several days at a time. They only called in because of the smell."

His notes were met with nods of acknowledgement from either partner.

"Okay," Kate said, slowly. "Why dont' we try to figure out where he'd disappear to for days on end. We also need to know if he had any next of kin we need to notify."

"How about while you do that, Ryan and I can—"

"No."

"But you're usually the one to—"

"No."

Ryan looked between Kate and Esposito, watching the exchange curiously.

"And…what are we..discussing now?"

Kate shook her head as she snapped off the latex gloves.

"There is no discussion. Espo thinks he's going to the presentations this afternoon."

"Dude, it's not going to happen. Give it up."

Esposito gave him a sour look.

"Espo's just upset because he thinks he's missing an opportunity to have kids worship him."

Esposito scoffed in offense. "I do not."

Kate fixed Ryan with a look. "You know he needs his ego fluffed, prima donna that he is."

"That is _not_ true."

Kate's eyebrows rose in contest, but she smiled.

"Let's wrap it up here and let CSU do their job. I have somewhere I need to be in the a few hours."

xx

Around 11, Kate started getting her various notes and paperwork in order. It felt odd to be preparing to leave in the middle of the day. She was never good at leaving anything unfinished.

"Are you getting ready to take off?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah.. Thought I might grab something to eat before I have to head over to the school."

Esposito's head popped up from behind his computer.

"Are we talking about doing lunch?"

"Yeah, you two want to come?"

Esposito was already up and out of his chair and shrugging on his leather jacket.

"Hell yeah. I skipped breakfast—"

Ryan made a face as he thought back to only a few hours ago. "No you didn't. You came in eating a breakfast burrito…"

"Oh yeah. Well, I'm still hungry." He looked at Kate. "The diner?" He asked as they started walking towards the elevator.

"Fine by me," Kate replied, pressing the button to summon the elevator. "But I swear if I have to spend the entire lunch listening to you trying to convince me to—"

"Relax. I can accept defeat. I know a lost cause when I see one."

Kate's lips pressed together as Ryan stared blankly at Esposito.

"You should have accepted that defeat a week ago."

xx

When the bell rang at lunch, Alexis and Paige went to the office to meet Rick. He was pressing the Visitor sticker to his chest as they walked in.

"Hey, Lex!" He said when he caught sight of her. He held up the paper bag with their lunches, and asked, "Hungry?"

She took the bag from him so he could carry the drinks easier.

"Hi, Paige," Rick greeted. "Hope you're hungry too— one of those wraps is yours… And you still like Oreo milkshakes, right?"

Paige's smile lit up her face. She turned to Alexis and said, "Your dad's the best."

The lunch room was loud. The noise level was reminiscent of the buzz that came before a crushing headache, not unlike the ones brought on by excessive alcohol.

Rick followed the girls over to their assigned table. He wasn't able to comfortably fit between the bench and the table, so he had to straddle the bench.

He handed the turkey wrap to Alexis and the chicken one to Paige since he knew that was the only meat she wasn't particularly fussy about. He kept the second turkey wrap for himself and let the girls decide who received which chips.

Between bites, Rick tried to engage Alexis and her friends in conversation. When all of Alexis' friends became caught up in their own tangent, he took the opportunity to ask his daughter if she was getting nervous.

She had grown quiet over the lunch hour, which he knew meant she had a lot going on inside.

"A little." She admitted.

"Why are you getting nervous?"

"I don't know what to expect. Or what to say…"

"'Thank you for coming. I'm so excited to meet you..'" Rick suggested.

Alexis shot him an unamused look.

"Not helpful, dad."

"It's going to go great, honey. I'm sure she's even a little nervous herself."

"Why would she be nervous."

"Same reasons you are. She probably doesn't know what to expect either."

Alexis didn't know what to say to this, so she finished the rest of her wrap before wadding the wrapper into a ball and stuffing it in her empty chip bag.

"So, what are we doing after lunch?" Rick asked.

"We're finishing up the math lesson we started earlier, and then she's giving us free time to prepare for our presentations."

"Fun stuff," Rick said as he gathered their trash. "I'd offer to help with the math lesson, except I'm not sure I'd be much use.."

Alexis grinned as she stood and followed her dad over to dump their trash.

"You should definitely stick to writing," she told him

xx

Around the time Alexis and her classmates were sitting down for their math review, Kate was making her way towards the school. She would be a little early, but better early than late. She could always just sit in her car and read through some of the financial and phone records the boys had pulled.

Kate glanced up in the rearview mirror as she waited for the red light to turn green, and she saw none other than her two partners in the car behind her.

She took out her phone and put it on speed dial before setting it in the cup holder when the handsfree picked up.

Kate watched in the rearview mirror to see Esposito answer on the third ring.

"Are you morons following me now? I already told you, you can't come."

"Listen to you, you think everything is about you. We're on our way to check out a lead."

"Mm.. Mhm," she replied, unconvinced.

She watched the cross traffic slow and prepared for the light to change. She pressed the button on the steering wheel to end the call as the light turned green. She had just started accelerating when Esposito honked at her like an impatient ass, just like he always did whenever he was stopped behind her at a light.

"Are you kidding me? I'm going, I'm go—"

Kate was so focused on what was ahead of her, she didn't see the car coming.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: for the guest reviewer that asked if it was terrible that they wanted Kate to get hurt on the job.. You and I think alike, apparently! **

**So sorry for the cliffhanger, everyone.. I simply couldn't resist ;) **


	14. Chapter 14

Everything was black.

And then the darkness slowly faded.

There were horns blaring, the hiss as her car steamed, and the tick of the engine. The smell of burnt rubber hung in the air.

Kate opened her eyes, awareness trickling back.

The first things she did was push at the airbag that had ejected upon impact.

It hurt to breathe, but each breath felt easier than the last.

She could feel her body bruising, the joints stiffening.

"Beckett! Beckett!"

Kate blinked hard as she processed her name being yelled. Her head hurt. It was difficult to grasp anything other than the pounding within her skull.

"Kate!"

She heard glass crunch as Esposito's face came sliding into view. He pulled on the handle, but the door didn't budge.

Kate squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again, this time succeeding in forcing the thudding of her head to the background. Her focus was coming back to her, the disorientating slipping away.

"Kate! Don't move. We'll get you out—" He turned away to shout at Ryan. "Call an ambulance. And _you_! Don't even think about going anywhere." Kate tried to turn her head to see who he was addressing, but whoever it was, they weren't in her line of vision.

Kate finally gathered the mental energy to speak up.

"I'm fine."

The words came out as a croak.

She winced even as she did this, reaching up to touch the swollen lip that had protested those words.

It was split and bleeding.

She ran her tongue over her teeth, relieved to find them all where they should be.

Esposito reached through the broken driver's side window and jimmied the handle from the inside. They both heard a click and Esposito felt the slight give. Kate watched his features set in determination as he pulled against the smashed door.

The hinges made a sound they shouldn't have as the door popped out of its stuck position. Esposito strained to pull it open the rest of the way and Kate was already unbuckling her belt.

The left side of her body, the side that had absorbed the brunt of the impact, ached fiercely.

Her left arm especially… She gritted her teeth as the pain became all she could focus on.

Esposito was leaning into the car, apparently searching her for serious injury. The way her car had crumpled made it seem like she should have shattered bones, and bleeding more extensive than her cut lip and the small laceration near her temple.

"Just hang on, ambo's on the way."

They could both hear the wailing of the sirens as they drew nearer.

"Espo," she said, grimacing. "Get me out of here."

"Just wait until the paramedics are here. I shouldn't move—"

"I think I smell gas."

Esposito stilled, the smell becoming more noticeable now that it had been pointed out to him. He didn't take long to make his decision.

"Put your arm around my neck."

"I.. I can't," Kate said, feeling panic set in for the first time. She couldn't move her arm. "I can't move it!"

"Okay… Okay, okay, okay.." Esposito murmured, mostly to himself.

"Your other arm. Try to put your other arm around me as best you can, and I'll pull you out."

Kate clenched her teeth against the pain as she turned her body what little she could and put her good arm around her partner.

It took a lot to keep from crying out as Esposito pulled them both out.

Esposito held most of her weight initially, but Kate gradually hobbled, and then walked, nearly without any help at all.

As the shock wore off, she was able to take in every ache and pain with a more level head.

Aside from her left arm which hung limply at her side, the pains were all minor. It was her muscles that ached, and the ache was like the soreness that came the day after a really intense work out.

Esposito kept one arm still looped around her waist as he helped her to the side. Traffic was stopped all around them, and it was the first time Kate was able to really get a look at the damage.

"I didn't even see him coming," she said softly.

Esposito stopped to look at her.

"It all happened so fast."

They stopped walking when the ambulance came speeding down the narrow lane created by more courteous drivers.

"Where's the other driver?" Kate asked, looking around.

Esposito pointed to the SUV some yards away.

"Ryan's talking to him now. He's completely fine. He's saying the light was yellow."

"What?" Kate asked, wincing as her emphatic response caused her to jerk her arm. "He definitely had a red light. Why—"

Esposito held up a hand. "I know. And he knows. Everyone here who saw it knows. His statement won't hold up."

Two paramedics came jogging over. One looked pissed.

"You shouldn't have moved her. She could have had a spinal injury, or there might be internal trauma we don't know about."

Esposito deflated in shame at the medic's cutting tone. He felt responsible.

"I asked him to," Kate said, removing her arm from around Esposito's neck and standing tall. "I smelled gas and was worried about—"

Just then, they saw a small flame shoot up, but it was extinguished almost as quickly as it had ignited. When had the firetruck arrived? Kate wondered as she watched them continue to spray down her totaled car.

Both medics seemed to accept this without further comment.

"I think it looks much worse than it is," Kate said, allowing the medic to trade places with Esposito and guide her slowly towards the ambulance. "It's just my arm. I can't move it and the pain is excruciating."

"It's most likely dislocated," the medic told her as she helped her into the back of the ambulance.

Kate sat on the gurney, flinching at the pain.

The second medic began a physical exam, helping her to lay back and feeling her stomach for distention. The onslaught of questions began._ Did this hurt? What about this? And here? Do you feel any pain here?_

All Kate could think about was missing Alexis' presentations.

"I'm sorry?" Kate said, in response to a question she hadn't heard.

"What hurts most? Your side? Back? Neck?"

"Just my shoulder and my arm.. Everything else just aches. My neck feels stiff, but I've had whiplash before and this isn't as bad."

The medic nodded as she catalogued the injuries.

"We're going to take you to the hospital and they're likely going to want to do some x-rays just to make sure, and they'll pop your shoulder back in place."

"Can't you just do it?" Kate asked. If there was any way she could still make it to the presentations, she was going to try.

"I can, but they prefer we don't out in the field unless it's absolutely necessary. There can sometimes be complications so it's better to wait until you're at a hospital. We're just going to immobilize it for now—"

"But—"

"Ma'am, it's not something that's really up for discussion. Let us do our job."

Kate's mouth closed, and she respectfully nodded. How many times had she asked others to allow her to do the same? They were the ones qualified in these circumstances to be the ones making the decisions, not her.

The medic asked her to lean back again and strapped her to the gurney.

"Is there anyone who is going to accompany her to the hospital?" The second medic asked, already having closed one door.

The woman who'd been helping her turned to look, and Kate was going to ask if they could call Ryan or Esposito over, but she didn't need to. She didn't even really think it was necessary to be accompanied, she just needed to tell them something.

"Hey! Hey! Wait up!" The ambulance rocked a little as Esposito practically jumped in.

"So, looks like you're getting your way after all, you ass," Kate said, managing an awkward smile with her swollen lip.

Esposito looked at her in confusion.

"Someone needs to go to Alexis' school."

Esposito immediately opened his mouth to object. In all his begging, and bargaining to be the one to attend the presentations, he'd never actually wanted to take Kate's place. He knew how much she was looking forward to it. He just liked how exasperated he could make her.

The ambulance rocked again, less noticeably, but Esposito turned and Kate lifted her head to see.

It was Ryan.

The quarters were quickly becoming cramped, and the medic was losing her patience.

"Only one of you can ride along. Make up your minds, but please do it quickly."

Ryan and Esposito looked at each other and then at Kate. As with most things, they expected her to make the final decision.

"One of you needs to go to the presentations," Kate said. They both looked like they might protest, but Kate interjected before they had a chance. "I don't care who; you both can go. It doesn't really matter, but someone needs to be there."

"I don't-"

"I—"

"Please, you guys. I told her I would be there, I can't just not show up."

Ryan and Esposito stared at each other.

"You go," Esposito said. "I'll ride with Kate. You're better with kids anyway."

Ryan nodded and stepped off the back of the ambulance.

"Update me when you can-"

He started to shut the door.

"Ryan!"

The door opened again and he stuck his head in.

"Yeah?"

Kate's shoulder flared as she shifted.

"Don't tell her what happened. I don't want her to worry."

"You got it," Ryan responded. "I'll call you when I leave there."

He shut the door and Kate laid her head back against the gurney, and closed her eyes as the disappointment washed over her.

xx

Every time the door opened, Alexis breath would catch in anticipation, and deflate when she knew it wasn't Kate. It was still early, nearly twenty minutes before 1, but most of the pen-pals were showing up.

She looked over at her dad who was caught up in talking to Chris. Chris was lucky; his pen-pal had been here practically half the day.

Her gaze shifted around the room, landing on pairs of her classmates and their pen-pals. There were some groups of three for those lucky enough to have a parent also show. The room was alive with excitement and Alexis grew increasingly restless as the hands of the clock drew closer to 1.

Rick, even being engaged in conversation with Chris, was still aware of his daughter on the other side of the room. He'd cast glances from her to the door, feeling her worry as though it were her own. He told Chris he'd be back in just a second, and wound his way through the parents and pen-pals and kids, and made his way to his daughter. She stood facing her poster board, tweaking things that had already been tweaked several times over.

"Hey, honey."

She turned, forcing a smile.

"Hey."

"You worried she's not coming?"

Alexis shook her head.

"No. I know she's coming; she said she'd be here."

Rick's lips pressed together as he wondered how many times her own mother had told her the same thing, only to prove it untrue.

The door opened and they both turned to look. Alexis' heart leapt in her chest and fell to her feet in one swift motion.

Rick saw recognition in the way her eyes lit up, but he also saw the disappointment. He was dressed in a black suit and a blue tie. The tie wasn't all that different from the one Rick nearly wore himself, actually.. If he had to guess, that was one of Kate's partners, who Alexis had met in the coffee shop the other week.

He followed Alexis as she almost reluctantly made her way towards him.

"Alexis!"

Rick had to admit, he appeared genuinely happy to see his daughter.

"Hi," she said, offering a small smile of her own. She realized her dad had followed her and so she introduced them.

"Dad, this is Detective Kevin Ryan. He's Kate's partner." She looked at Ryan and then at her father. "And this is my dad."

Ryan held out a hand and Rick reached out to shake it.

"Richard Castle," he said as they released hands. "It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Ryan said. "I can't tell you how wonderful we think your daughter is down at the 12th."

Rick smiled as he put a hand on his daughter's shoulder and squeezed. "Yeah, she is pretty great."

Ryan looked at Alexis who held the question in her eyes.

"Listen, Kate _really _wanted to be here, but something came up."

Alexis' gaze fell and she nodded her head. "That's okay. It was nice of you to come instead."

Ryan felt horrible about how disappointed she looked, and knew Kate was probably feeling even worse. He wanted to tell her Kate had been in a car accident so she'd understand that, truly, something had come up and it wasn't her just being flakey, but he stopped himself from doing so. Kate hadn't wanted her to worry.

His eyes left Alexis to glance at Rick whose earlier easy going expression had turned impassive. It was understandable that he'd be upset that his daughter had been let down. Ryan planned on telling him the circumstances when he had a chance to speak with him alone.

"Kate told me you made a poster board.. Is that right?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah.."

"Can I see it?"

Alexis nodded and turned on her heel, expecting him to follow. What had started as such a good day was turning out to be quite miserable.

Rick felt guilty for leaving his own pen-pal for so long, it was rude on his part, but he felt even guiltier for not being able to better console Alexis.

Ryan caught his look, and understood completely.

As they trailed behind Alexis, Ryan leaned in and dropped his voice.

"I'll talk to you when we get a minute."

xx

"Kate, I don't know if this is such a good idea…"

"Relax," Kate said as she scribbled a sloppy signature on the medical release form.

The doctor leaned over. "And here. And you do understand that you are leaving against medical advice, correct?"

"Yes, yes," Kate said, signing another line. "Really, it's just my shoulder.. And now that that's taken care of, I'll be good as new in a week or two."

"I know. I think you'll be good to go, it's simply hospital procedure," the doctor said, watching as Kate initialed and signed the final line. She passed the clipboard and the doctor handed Kate a slip of paper.

"That's your prescription. You should take it and have it filled when you leave here. You'll be in for a world of hurt tonight."

Kate folded the note as she thanked her. "Can't be worse than popping it back into place, I hope."

The doctor held the door as Esposito and Kate exited and said to herself,"You'd be surprised."

xx

Presentations were well underway. There were only five kids, besides herself, who had yet to present. She'd listened halfheartedly to her classmates give their presentations, but Alexis had trouble focusing. She was too busy working through all the reasons Kate had decided not to come. She probably realized it was silly, that she could be doing better things with her time. Maybe Kate just didn't want to meet her, after all, it was only a project.

Alexis watched with her head on her folded hands as Ms. Blake stood in front of the classroom.

"We are just going to take a two minute break. Anyone needs to use the restroom, now is the time to do it."

Many of her classmates stood and wandered around to talk with friends, or parents.

She didn't really feel like doing either.

Paige was bright and bubbly, bouncing on her toes as she talked to her pen-pal off to the side. She had been invited to the studio to watch live. Paige said something to make her pen-pal laugh and Alexis looked away.

Her mom was in the back, talking with some other mom's, but she caught Alexis' gaze and smiled and waved at her before continuing her conversation. Her dad was busy talking to Ryan.

Not really wanting to be a part of their conversation, but not wanting to be left out, Alexis made her way over.

They stopped talking almost immediately and the awkward pause stung.

"Your classmates have been doing a really good job up there," Ryan said.

Alexis bobbed her head. "Yeah."

She was glad it was almost over.

"Well, I'm ready whenever you are," Ryan told her. The kids volunteered themselves to present, and so far Alexis hadn't even raised her hand.

"Maybe after Charlotte goes."

Ryan glanced at Rick, Alexis' letdown was everyone's letdown.

"I know I'm not Kate," Ryan said after a moment, "But I am happy to be here, and to be a part of this."

Alexis smiled at him and swallowed the dark mood that was trying to swallow her.

"I'm happy you came," She told him. And she meant it.

"Kate did want to be here, honey."

Alexis looked up at her father.

"She really did," he continued. "Ryan and I are going to swap numbers and we'll meet up with them all one day and have lunch or dinner sometime. Okay?"

Alexis would like to believe that it would be something that happened, but she couldn't picture seeing Ryan again or even meeting Kate.

"Yeah, anywhere you want," Ryan said. "We can all just hang out and—"

His phone started to ring and he paused mid sentence.

His eyebrows furrowed as he looked at the screen.

"I have to take this… I'll be right back, okay?"

Alexis heard him answer the phone as he stepped out of the room.

She thought she caught Kate's name at the end.

Alexis felt her dad's hand start to rub her back.

"Cheer up, Lex. Ryan's feeling real bad, he thinks you don't want him to be here."

Her forehead wrinkled as she frowned. "I do want him to be here."

"Well, act like it then. You can't help what you can't change, kiddo."

She nodded, but remained silent.

Rick watched her face carefully as he tried to ascertain what it was she was thinking.

"I hope you're ready," a voice behind him said. He turned to find Alexis' teacher addressing him. "You and Chris are up next, Mr. Castle."

Alexis listened to her father laugh as he told her teacher he was born ready. They fell into idle conversation and Alexis' gaze wandered back to the door.

xx

"I cannot believe you're here."

Kate grinned at Ryan cheekily as he took in her surprisingly together appearance. Aside from the butterfly stitches near her temple, the faint bruising on her cheek, and the sling around her neck, no one was likely to guess she'd been t-boned in the last couple of hours.

"Where's Javi? He let you leave the hospital without getting fully checked out?"

"I was checked out," Kate said defensively. She adjusted the visitors sticker on her blazer. "I just didn't wait around for all the tests. The doctor was fairly certain my shoulder was the only big injury.. Maybe a cracked rib. Well, and a concussion, but it's mild. She still prescribed me painkillers for my arm, which, by the way, answers your other question: Javi is getting my prescription filled."

"You really have to be the most hardheaded person I know," Ryan said.

Kate smirked. It was a title she was proud to have.

"How are presentations going? Alexis hasn't already gone, has she? Was she really upset that I wasn't the one to show up?"

"She hasn't gone yet.. And she was pretty disappointed it was me and not you," he said, his laughing trailing off. "It actually kind of hurt my feelings."

Kate's lips curled upwards. "I'm sure you'll live."

She noticed the door behind him start to open. A head peeked out, and the door swung open completely. The light in her blue eyes as they widened more than made up for the pain in her shoulder and virtually every aching muscle.

"Kate?!"

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><p><strong>AN: If I was really cruel, I would have made you guys wait a helluva lot longer for this chapter. Luckily for you guys, I have four papers due Monday that I am actively avoiding doing at all costs. **

**The last chapter received more reviews than any other chapter from any of my stories****and it was the greatest thing ever**.** This story has also grown much quicker than my others and the feedback's just been phenomenal. It's a really awesome feeling, so thank you! **


	15. Chapter 15

**((I have another two papers due in the next few days, and I'm feeling a little burnt out, otherwise this chapter would have been longer.. So, just think of it as a little taste of what you have to look forward to! ))**

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><p>Alexis stepped into the hallway, the door shutting on the noise of the classroom. For two whole months, Kate had been a faceless mystery, someone she could likely walk past on the streets and never be the wiser. Alexis hadn't known what to expect, so she told herself it'd be better not to have any. Not having expectations was better than having high ones that fell short, or even low ones and feeling disappointed. Now, as Kate stood before her, Alexis had no words, only an indescribable feeling that welled in her chest to confirm the expectations she had denied having.<p>

Alexis stood, her feet rooted to the spot while Kate stepped around Ryan to hold her hand out to Alexis.

"I am _so_ sorry I'm late, Alexis."

Kate smiled warmly as Alexis tentatively placed her hand in Kate's.

"It's okay," Alexis responded, feeling suddenly shy. She looked up at Kate and then at Ryan, unsure of quite what to do with herself, or even what to say. Kate placed a hand on top of Alexis' head and grinned at her until Alexis' smile grew to match.

"It is so nice to finally meet you," Kate said as her hand fell from Alexis' curls and she took a step back to stand next to Ryan.

Ryan gave Alexis a knowing smile.

"I told you she really wanted to be here."

"Of course I did," Kate said to Alexis. "I just ended up having to take a little detour is all. But I told you I'd be here, so here I am."

Ryan looked at Kate like she was a little crazy and Alexis connected Kate's fresh bruising on her face and the more obvious sling that held her arm. Alexis' eyes trailed from Kate's sling and caught on the medical band she still wore around one wrist. Her surprise prompted Alexis to string together her first sentence longer than two words.

"Were you in the hospital?!"

Alexis may have missed it, but there was relief in the way Kate drew her next breath. Alexis' face had been difficult to read, and Kate had started to worry Alexis was upset with her for being so late, or perhaps even disappointed in some way. She remembered being young; she remembered how high her expectations had always been. It was hard not to be disappointed when you'd been building something up in your head only to have it fall short…

But it was nerves, Kate realized, nerves that had kept Alexis quiet.

"Yeah…" She said, answering Alexis' question. "I was in an.. It was something minor. It's all good now."

In the time it took Kate to pause mid-sentence and rephrase her words, Alexis suddenly understood perfectly what Ryan had meant when he'd said Kate played everything down.

"Are you okay?" Alexis asked, concern pulling on the smile at her lips. The space between her eyebrows creased as her forehead wrinkled. She took in the strip of tape on Kate's temple and her discolored skin.

Kate smiled at Alexis' worry. Her quickness to sympathy was endearing.

"Yeah, honey.. I'm.. I'm good. Glad to be here."

The corner of Alexis' mouth turned up. She couldn't believe she was here. She couldn't wait to show her the poster board she'd made, and the paper she'd written.

"Should we be inside?" Kate asked, noticing Alexis glance at the door.

"Yeah. We were taking a break, but—"

The door opened and another head poked out. It was Ms. Blake.

"There you are," she said as she opened the door wider. Ms. Blake recognized Ryan, but stopped when she realized she didn't know who Kate was.

Realizing this, Kate introduced herself. "Hi, I'm Detective Beckett. I was Alexis' pen-pal."

Ms. Blake leaned forward, still holding the door open and shook Kate's hand.

"Ms. Blake," she said in return. She looked at Alexis and motioned her inside with a nod. "We've already gotten started- Chris and your dad are up there presenting."

Alexis wondered if that was Ms. Blake telling her to go inside. She wanted to stay out here and hang out with Kate and Ryan in the more removed setting.

"Alexis."

Alexis gave Kate one last fleeting look before walking into the classroom. As she walked away, she could hear Kate apologizing for being late as she explained the circumstances. Alexis would have much rather stayed and listened, but she did as was expected of her.

While his pen-pal gave his presentation, Rick was distracted by the small commotion in the back of the room. Alexis came in with a bounce in her step and a smile painted across her face. She very nearly skipped to her seat. His eyes wandered back to where Ms. Blake stood, half occupying the doorway. Her profile was visible to him and he could see her mouth moving.. Who she was talking to, he wasn't sure. Ryan maybe? If Alexis had also been in the hallway, it made sense that it would be him.

Chris continued to talk, working his way through the questions he had asked Rick, and the responses he had been given.

Rick looked from the doorway to Alexis, who now sat at her desk. He shot her a look.

_What?_

He didn't think her smile could get any wider, but it somehow did as she mouthed, _Kate_.

His eyebrows quirked, thinking he'd misread her lips.

Rick's gaze shifted from Alexis to the back of the room once more. Ms. Blake disappeared from view, presumably, to hold the door open. He waited to see who for.

There were scattered claps as Chris finished his presentation.

"So does anyone have any questions for me or Mr. Castle?"

Rick looked to his pen-pal and back out at all the hands that had shot up, his eyes occasionally darting to the back.

A woman stepped inside, visible for half a moment before she was blocked from view as Ryan stepped in front of her. If she was with Ryan, it had to mean she was Kate…

"I'm sorry—" Rick said, dragging his gaze from her and Ryan to the boy in the front row of desks. "What was the question again?"

Kate grimaced as Ryan tugged on her sling. She felt like the pain medication was starting to wear off already.

"Is it too loose, or too tight?" he asked.

"It's too… I just feel like there isn't enough support."

"So not tight enough then," Ryan murmured, gently starting to adjust the strap.

As he fiddled with the stiff and uncooperative strap, Kate looked over Ryan's shoulder to watch the current presentation. She was curious to know who Alexis' father was.

Kate stilled as their eyes locked. His had already been on her, she realized, and he'd only been waiting for her to look up.

She'd be damned.

Her mind's eye flashed back to the coffee shop.

The one and the same.

Richard Castle.

One side of his mouth curled upwards as he continued to speak. His eyes released hers to look at the student whose question he was answering, the smirk never really leaving his lips.

He had recognized her, too.

"Better?" Ryan asked, drawing her attention somewhere other than the man at the front of the room.

"Yeah," Kate replied, still somewhat distracted by the curve balls that seemed to just keep coming. "Better."

"So that's Alexis' dad who's presenting?" She asked for the sake of absolute clarity.

"Yeah. Rick…But his last name isn't Harper, it's—"

"Castle."

"Yeah," he said, turning to look at her. "I was trying to remember..Isn't he one of the authors that you—"

_Really like. _

Kate wouldn't let him finish the sentence. "Yes."

She only hoped Ryan hadn't already managed to mention the same to Rick.

"I figured you'd be a bit more excited to meet him.."

"Oh, we've met," Kate said, her eyes catching Rick's again.

The delight in his features only grew as he rightly assumed he was the subject of her hushed whisperings.

"What?" Ryan asked. He was slightly crushed that his surprise wasn't that much of a surprise. "When?"

"Remember that morning I came in wearing the better half of a cup of coffee?"

Ryan's eyebrows rose as he turned to look at Rick, who was now pacing the front of the room. He was enjoying the spotlight.

"That was him?"

"Uh-huh."

Their gaze slowly shifted to fall on Alexis.

"But you didn't know he was Alexis'—"

"Nope."

"I wonder why she didn't use her last name, or even mention who her dad was."

Alexis turned in her seat as he said this, making it the third time she had checked to see that Kate was still there. Kate smiled and gave her a small wave.

"I can think of a few reasons."

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><p><strong>AN: I ****_love _****the way you all love this story.. It makes me so happy, and it makes it such a pleasure to write. **


	16. Chapter 16

**first of all, real quickly- there's a reader who's commented on the use of the word "got" and "gotten," I'd have liked to reply directly, but as it was a guest reviewer I'll just do it here. Majority of the time when I use it writing fan fiction, it's intentional, at least when it's in dialogue. To me, it lends a more authentic feel, but that's only because I envision the dialogue and diction of people like many of us use in our daily interactions. **

**Even the writers of the show use "got" in their dialogue. ((I think one of Kate's first interactions with Rick is when she sits him down in the interrogation room and says, "You've got quite the rap sheet, Mr. Castle.")) So, of course we know proper english would be "you have," but got is still almost unconsciously used. And it's like this way in basically every episode- Kate says it, Ryan says it, Castle.. Everyone.**

**So, if it really bugs you, I apologize- I will try to make a conscious effort to minimize its usage.**

**Anyway, happy reading to you all! Have a great weekend :)**

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><p>Every time Rick finished answering a question, he would hope it was the last one, only to have another hand raised high.<p>

"His answers were increasingly sarcastic, and less serious than his first few, which probably made it worse since the kids laughter only sparked more instigative questions.

In between their lulls of laughter, he'd glance at Kate who looked on with a barely masked amusement. The smile only grew as he struggled to regain control over the class.

He as relieved when Ms. Blake wound her way through the desks to stand in front of her class.

"Alright, I think Mr. Castle's answered enough questions." She glanced at the watch on her wrist before saying, "And we need to get moving along if we want to have enough time for our last few presentations. Why don't we give Chis and Mr. Castle a round of applause?"

The class applauded their classmate as Rick helped him with his poster board.

Rick followed Chris to the other side of the room to place his paper and poster board in a growing pile, all the while thinking of what he'd say to Kate.

Rick held up a fist to Chris and said, "Nailed it."

Chris bumped Rick's knuckles with his own.

As Ms. Blake asked the class who had yet to present, Rick nudged his way through some of the other pen-pals and parents, purposely avoiding his ex-wife, until he was standing behind Kate.

He placed a hand on the middle of her back as he leaned in and dropped his voice so as not to disturb the kid who had just begun presenting.

"So, you're Kate."

Kate half smiled as she glanced at him. "And you're the one who cost me a coat," she returned drily. She looked down at his hands pointedly. "You're not holding any now though, so I guess I'm safe this time."

Rick smiled. "Lucky for you, I've already finished my coffee."

Kate held his gaze a second more before fixing it again on the girl presenting on her firefighter pen-pal. Alexis had nearly jumped out of her seat when Ms. Blake had asked for the next volunteer, but she had seen another young girl's hand go up first.

Kate could feel Rick's sidelong glances, but her attention remained on the girl speaking.

"Ryan said you'd been in an accident—" Rick broke off, and straightened as Ms. Blake turned, looking around for the source of the hushed whispers.

As soon as her back was turned again, Rick leaned in to resume speaking.

"Don't you think you should be at home, taking it easy?"

Kate glanced at Ms. Blake whose back was still turned.

"Don't you think you should be listening and not asking me questions?" she responded under her breath.

A few minutes passed, and she though her comment had hit its intended mark.. Until she felt him start to lean in again.

"Thank you.. For making it here anyway. This meant a lot to Alexis."

At this, Kate looked over at him unsurely. She'd been startled by his tone which had lost its teasing, smiling quality.

"I told her I'd be here."

"I know.. But, no one would have blamed you if you hadn't come."

Kate was silent, but she looked down at the carpeted floor before casting her gaze back to Alexis. Kate was continually assured she'd been right in her decision to come.

The firefighter's series of questions drew to a close and the kids erupted in applause.

"They clapped louder for me though, right?" Rick asked as he clapped and Kate attempted to use her thigh in lieu of her useless hand.

"Maybe just a little."

Rick grinned openly at her, making her regret giving him even that small remark.

"Okay," Ms. Blake said, pushing off the desk she'd been leaning against. "Who would like to go next?"

Alexis threw her hand in the air as she simultaneously looked back to make sure it was okay with Kate. Kate encouraged her with a smile as she nodded.

"Alexis- you're ready to go?"

"Yes," Alexis said, pushing herself away from her desk.

Rick watched her with an amused smile. He was happy to see her excitement back. She grabbed her paper from her desk and pushed in her chair.

"Where's your poster?" Kate asked as she followed Alexis to the front of the room.

"Oh, it's—"

Rick appeared with the poster board in hand. He set it up so it was propped against the whiteboard.

"Thanks, dad."

"You got it, pumpkin."

He refrained from planting a kiss on the crown of her head as he passed. He raised his eyebrows as he stepped past Kate.

"Good luck."

Kate almost smiled. She watched him return to his place besides Ryan. The beginnings of the smile froze on her face as she caught the look of one of the women in the corner. Her hair and fair complexion was too similar to Alexis for them not to be related. She was watching Kate nearly as carefully as Kate was now watching her, the only difference being Kate's scrutiny was far more subtle.

When Alexis cleared her throat, Kate abandoned her study to focus on her.

"So," Alexis began. "This is Detective Kate Beckett. She is a detective with the NYPD and she investigates homicides."

Alexis looked up from her notes and Kate nodded her on.

Great start, she encouraged.

Alexis moved through her presentation easily. Kate could tell it was something she had spent a lot of time preparing. In comparison to the two presentation Kate had seen before, Alexis was far more detailed and organized. She described Kate's duties as a detective and the steps she went through during an investigation. Kate was still impressed, but no longer surprised by Alexis' adept nature.

As Alexis spoke, there was a boy who continually poked the kid next to him. The s's of his whispers carried and Kate noticed how Alexis would keep glancing up, distracted by the whispers she couldn't place.

Kate waited for the teacher to reprimand him, but it didn't seem he was loud enough to catch her attention from across the room. Towards the end, as Alexis was getting into the process of how to become a police officer and, later, a detective, Kate could no longer take the young boy's rude disruption.

She sidled up to his desk, her slow movements hardly noticeable to those whose main focus was on Alexis.

Kate tapped her fingers on his desk and he startled, presuming it was his teacher. He smiled at Kate like she couldn't know what he'd been doing. Her stern look made his smile fall.

_Zip it_, she mouthed.

He nodded resolutely and shifted in his seat so he was facing forward. He gave Alexis his undivided attention and Kate slowly made her way back to Alexis' side.

She clapped with everyone else when Alexis finished. Alexis had trouble hiding her proud smile as Ms. Blake opened the class up to a few quick questions.

Only a couple of hands went up.

She let Alexis choose between the raised hands.

"What happened to your arm?"

Kate had anticipated being asked this question. What they really wanted to know if it had happened on the job, like some dangerous chase scene in the movies.

"Unfortunately, nothing as awesome as I'm sure you all are thinking."

"It didn't happen when you were working?" The girl asked.

Kate shook her head. "Just a car accident. Nothing too exciting."

"Oh."

Kate kept a small smile on her face as she turned to take the next question. "Yes," she said, calling on a boy in the back.

"Do you get to carry a gun?"

She'd anticipated this one as well- a fascination with guns wasn't uncommon among younger kids, especially the boys.

"I do carry a gun."

The boy grinned as he turned to look at his friend next to him who blurted out, "Have you ever been shot?"

"I have been shot in the past, yes."

"Did it hurt?" Someone called out.

She paused as she thought. "Uh, yes..but not at first. My adrenaline was pumping, so I didn't realize just how badly it hurt until the adrenaline started to wear off."

Following that line of thought, the next question was naturally if she had ever shot anyone.

Immediately, Ms. Blake admonished the boy who'd asked. "Jake!"

Only feeling slightly rebuked, he still looked back at Kate for an answer.

"I have had to shoot someone."

She heard another boy whisper, "_cool," _and her eyes found him quickly and narrowed as she said sharply, "It isn't _cool_. It isn't anything like tv or the movies. We take firing our weapons _very _seriously. It isn't something we enjoy having to do. We don't shoot unless we feel we absolutely have to."

Her tone had caused his face to sober considerably, and she wondered if maybe she hadn't been too sharp. Judging by the lack of raised hands, she was right. No one wanted to ask her any other questions.

A hand raised in the back. It was Rick's.

"What is the weirdest case you've had?"

"Uh.." She stopped to think. "I can't think of any off the top of my head. I know we've worked some pretty strange ones.. Ryan, can you think of any?"

Most of the kids turned in their seats to look at Ryan.

"Oh, this is one of my partners by the way, Detective Kevin Ryan."

Ryan smiled at the kids as he gave them a wave.

"What about the ninja one?" he asked.

The kids collectively stirred as they turned to whisper to each other. _The ninja one_, provoked much discussion.

"Oh, right.." Kate said, remembering. "That one was a bit bizarre."

She proceeded to tell the story to the class, glossing over the bits not suitable for their young ears, and really emphasized the remarkable abilities of the victim's sister who was well trained. The kids got a kick out of the movie-like action, and Kate was given a rare opportunity to showcase her story telling skills.

This story, in turn, led to more questions as kids began opening up to Kate. One girl wanted to know how Kate was able to arrest the bad guys.

"But you're not very big," she said. "You're tall, but… Couldn't they just beat you up?"

The corner of Kate's lips curved upwards. "We don't actually have as many strong-armed fights like tv would have you believe."

Actually, it almost always went smoothly, only occasionally did they come across a runner, or someone who posed a real threat.

Another girl persisted. "But for the ones that do try to fight you or get away.. What do you do?"

"Yeah, because you can't just, like, take on a guy that's much bigger than you, can you?" One of the boys asked.

Kate deliberated for a moment, looking at Alexis' face which showed she was as eager for an answer as the rest of the class. Kate wondered if it were Ryan or Esposito speaking to the class if they would have been asked a similar question.

"There are a number of ways you can get someone who is resisting arrest to.. comply. And when it comes to throwing punches or take-downs that turn nasty—"

"Kate's actually better at that than me or our other partner, Esposito."

The kids' focus all shifted from Kate to Ryan.

"Really?"

"Oh, yeah. Kate may look all pretty and sweet, but underneath all that, she's as intense as it gets. Anyone who knows Kate knows it would be crazy to try and cross her."

Rick caught her eye and she saw the way he smiled. She was having a harder time blocking him out.

"Show us," one of the kids demanded, as he turned back to Kate.

"Show you what?"

"How you arrest people who are trying to fight you."

"She hurt her arm, dummy," someone else whispered.

There were chuckles among the adults and kids alike as Ms. Blake said, "Maybe that's not the best idea."

Kate found herself wanting to demonstrate. The kids were just starting to engage.

"If I go slow, I can try to show you what I do."

The kids all straightened in their seats, eagerly awaiting.

"Ryan, can I use you to demonstrate—"

He shook his head. "Oh, no. I saw what you did to Javi the last time you did this."

"I told him to tap out," She retorted. "It was his own fault. Come on."

Ryan hesitated and Rick found himself volunteering.

"I'll do it."

Kate started to object, but then realized it might just be better to not make a big deal out of it. It wasn't like she would be putting him at risk.

Rick caught the leg of one of the desks on his way up, and nearly tripped. The entire class, Kate included, laughed.

"Maybe it would be better with someone not quite so accident prone," Kate said, still smiling.

Rick, slightly flustered, replied, "Oh, just get on with it."

"Okay, _so_," Kate began, turning so that her profile was to the class. With her good hand, she guided Rick so that he was standing in front of her. Rick turned to face her, but Kate's hand on his shoulder spun him so his back was to her.

"Our joints—" she pointed to his shoulder, his elbow and then his wrist. "Are like hinges, right? They open in certain directions, and not in others. So, when— Will you put your hands behind your back, please?" she asked Rick.

He complied and she grabbed one of his hands with her own.

"Just, for the sake of this presentation, pretend I have two hands on his wrists, okay? So, then I might start reading him his miranda rights, which Alexis talked about, or I might be reaching for my cuffs at this point. It all depends, on the person, where you are, what all's going on around you. So, then if he starts resisting before I have a chance to cuff him—"

"I don't think you'd have much resistance from me," Rick said under his breath.

Kate put pressure on his wrist at a certain angle and he immediately starting saying, "Ow, ow, ow. Okay, okay."

She allowed him to straighten from the hunched forward position he'd naturally gone into.

"As I was saying, if he starts resisting before I have a chance to cuff him, and I already have him in this general position, I'm going to keep in mind these hinges, right? Use them to my advantage. So," she pivoted them a little more so the kids could see what she was doing better. To Rick, she said, "Just tap out when you start to feel it."

"A lot of times," she continued, her voice raising so the class could hear. "All I will really need to do if I feel like they're starting to resist is—" she raised his arm so it was bent behind him like a chicken wing. "Is this."

She tweaked it a little bit further until Rick tapped her with his free hand. She immediately released his arm from her hold, and he shook it out.

"See? It doesn't take much power or force in order to do something like that, it's simply a matter of putting a little pressure in the right place."

"Well, what if you don't have them yet?" One kid asked. "Like what if he's like running at you or if he's standing in front of you, but he's trying to fight?"

Kate tried to keep in mind that the kids were only in elementary school, to them everything seemed as dramatic as what happened in the cinema.

"Well, if we feel there is an immediate threat to ourselves, or others, we'll have our guns drawn, though as I said before, we don't shoot unless we need to-"

"Yeah, but what if you don't have your gun or, like, you dropped it or something."

Again, Kate resisted the urge to tell them how unlikely it was, and decided to indulge them.

"Okay, so,—" She put a hand on Rick's elbow and pulled him around so he was now facing her. "He's now facing me—" she took a few steps back. "and I have no gun- and no back up, I'm presuming?" She asked, momentarily turning to face the kid who'd originally asked the question.

"Yeah, no back up."

"Jeez, you guys aren't setting me up to be in a very good place, are you?"

The parents and pen-pals chuckled, enjoying the performance she was putting on. Kate looked at Ryan. "The day you aren't there to back me up is the day I find myself a new partner."

Ryan and Kate shared a smile because they knew the day would never come. Kate turned back to face Rick.

As she stared at him and worked through the motions in her head, she again wished she had two good arms instead of one.

"This one's going to be a little more difficult to show you with one hand. We'll go slow, but I'm sure your imaginations are good enough to envision what the real thing would look like full speed."

She faced Rick, who stood several paces away from her, awaiting her instruction. She motioned him forward, "So he's coming at me—"

He closed the distance and stopped when he was close enough to theoretically throw a punch. As he had guessed, Kate's next request was for him to act like he was going to punch her.

"When he gets about here, and starts throwing these punches, aside from the obvious and trying not to get hit, you'll notice that as he leans forward, there is a split second in which his shoulder opposite the one he's throwing is exposed. I would lunge- imagine my left arm exploding out to meet the arm he's using to punch- and then with my right arm, I would come across here—" she placed her hand where the trap of his shoulder met his neck, "And step-" She stepped so that her front leg was just behind Rick's right one.

As she paused to explain, her heart gave an involuntary skip as the intimacy of the close proximity was realized.

"In the position that I'm in now, my left hand, if it were where it should be, would be grabbing his right bicep and jerking it down as my right arm pushed him off balance. The final step is bringing my back leg forward," she said as she patted her right leg, before placing her hand back on Rick's shoulder for stability, "and kick my leg back against his calf, essentially sweeping him off his feet."

"Obviously, I wasn't able to do that now, with only having my one good arm, but you get the picture." She turned to Rick and thanked him for volunteering.

Rick would beg to differ. He was feeling quite swept off his feet at the moment.

"That was so cool."

Kate smiled as similar sentiments were passed around, most loud enough for her to hear. Alexis watched her, feeling proud. When Kate turned to smile at her, Alexis grinned and then looked past at her father, who was looking at Kate the way Alexis felt.

Awestruck and a little in love.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: hope you all enjoyed :) **

**(sidenote: anyone interested in a halloween (or other holidays) chapters? They could be part of the story or posted as separate one shots?)**


	17. Chapter 17

Rick followed Kate from the front of the room as she tried to assimilate back into the mixture of parents and fellow pen-pals. They all regarded her differently than before. It was no longer the sling that drew raised eyebrows, or the bruised lip that drew questions. Most were curiously drawn to the ease with which she drew attention and her quiet retreat into her more guarded demeanor.

With as many questions as Rick had on the tip of his tongue, a few of which had to do on a more personal level. Namely: her, him, dinner… lunch… hell, even a coffee date. The coffee proposal, he figured, she'd at least get a laugh at.

For all the things he wished to say, Rick surprisingly held back.

Once the remaining two students had presented, Ms. Blake commanded the attention of the classroom in order to thank everyone for their time and ready help. The bell rang before she could finish.

She paused and waited for the bell's final ring as her students started packing up their things.

As soon as the last one had rung, she clasped her hands and said, "Thanks again for making this the success that it was. Everyone did a wonderful, wonderful job and I was very proud of you. I hope you all have a great weekend, and I'll see you Monday. And, if you haven't already, be sure to thank your pen-pals for taking time out of their busy schedules to be here."

There was a general clamor as the kids went their various ways, some pushing out the door, and others becoming enveloped in conversation with their pen-pals and parents.

Before many had a chance to leave, or become too involved in conversation, Rick raised his voice over the noise. "Can I make one last quick announcement?"

Kate and Alexis both paused, neither one sure of what Alexis' father was about to say. With the exception of the few who'd already made their hasty exit, everyone stopped to listen.

"Alexis and I will be celebrating the end of this-" his eyes met Kate's and his eyebrows raised for a short second, "rather _amazing_ day at the ice cream shop down the block. Everyone is more than welcome to join us for a scoop or two." He paused momentarily at the parents' hesitation. "It'll be on me!"

The kids erupted in cries of excitement at the anticipation of an afternoon treat, those whose parents were in attendance were bombarded with "can we"s and "please"s. Once agreements-some reluctant and others willing- were made, some of the kids were quick to include their pen-pals in the invitation.

Rather than ask, as Kate had presumed she might, Alexis looked up at her with careful hope. Kate didn't know how to tell her no without making it personal.

She was momentarily saved from answering when Alexis' mother, or at least the woman Kate had earlier assumed to be her mother, came up behind Alexis.

She placed a hand on Alexis' shoulder as she smiled at Kate. Alexis turned and confirmed Kate's assumptions.

"Hi, mom!"

"I just came over to tell you what a great job you did- and to get a picture of the two of you."

"Mom-"

Meredith ignored Alexis' embarrassed intonations as she reached from over Alexis shoulder with her right hand.

"Meredith, by the way. It's nice to meet you."

Kate smiled as she shook her hand. "You as well."

Meredith then turned to Ryan and smiled as she said, "Nice to see you again."

Ryan returned her sentiments and seconded her demand for a picture. He'd promised Javi he'd snap one. He pulled out his own phone as he pushed his partner closer to Alexis.

"I'll get one, too."

"Ryan-" Kate said in a tone similar to the one Alexis had taken up with her mother.

Meredith nudged her daughter in and readied her phone. Kate would have rather been able to check her hair or fix her appearance. In her mind's eye, she looked like how she felt after the initial impact of the car accident, and that wasn't how she wanted to be remembered.

Nonetheless, she pulled Alexis to stand in front of her and smiled as each phone made several clicks. The phones lowered and Kate allowed her smile to dim, the muscles in her face nearly as exhausted as the rest of her.

The sense of urgency, which had pushed her to keep her promise to make it here, had also allowed her a distraction, something to focus on other than pain. It had now faded almost completely.

She squeezed Alexis' shoulder before allowing her hand to fall.

"Wait, wait!" Rick cried as he nearly tumbled over a chair left in the aisle in his hurry to catch the kodak moment. "One more!"

Kate had reluctantly yielded to her partner and Meredith, but the thought of Rick having a picture of her on his phone raised reservations born out of an unfamiliar shy feeling.

She shook her head as she tucked a curl behind her ear. Meredith offered to forward him her own picture, but he quickly dismissed her, saying, "Come on, I just upgraded to the new iPhone and check out this hi res-" he snapped a photo of an unsuspecting Ryan who quickly leaned in to see what it looked like.

'Man, that is clear," he said, using two fingers to zoom in and out on his own face. He compared the photo to the one he'd taken on his device.

Ryan pushed Alexis back in front of Kate.

"Just one more," he said as he now looked at the screen over Rick's shoulder.

"I don't know who I'd rather hit more right now.. Ryan or your father." Kate muttered to Alexis as her father and Ryan kept tapping the screen for options and telling them to 'wait right there.'

Alexis turned to look up at her as she giggled. Rick snapped the picture and he and Ryan both let out an _aw._

He flipped the phone around for Kate to see.

"Look how cute."

She ignored his soft smile as she looked at the photo. He'd caught it in the moment Alexis had turned to look up, laughing as Kate looked down at her with a smile that, unlike in the other pictures, was 100% genuine.

"I want to see!" Alexis said, pulling her father's arm down.

"Send that to me," Ryan told Rick as he squinted down at his own phone.

Rick pulled the phone away from his daughter and attached the photo in a new message. He looked up at Kate.

"What's your number? I can forward it along to you.."

_Nice try, _Kate thought. Curious to see what he'd make of the comment, she said, "I'll just have Ryan send it."

He raised his eyes to catch hers for a second, but didn't persist as she thought he might. Rather than commenting, he just hit the send button anyway.

"Got it," Ryan said with a smile.

Kate hadn't realized they had even exchanged numbered already.

"Well," Rick said, stowing the phone in his pocket. "What do you guys say we get going?" he looked at Meredith, surprised to see she'd stuck around for as long as she had. "Meredith," he said. Kate caught the stiffness, only because she'd spent years honing her skills of reading between the lines. "Will you be joining us?"

"Why not?" she asked brightly. She then turned to Kate and Ryan. "Kate? Kevin? How about you two?"

Ryan looked to Kate, who was back to feeling personally responsible for the hope held in Alexis' gaze.

She hesitated.

"I-"

"Oh, come on," Rick said, "you won't have to say long. Just a quick scoop."

Again, Kate hesitated and she felt as much as saw what the hesitation did to Alexis.

"Do you feel okay to go, or are your meds wearing off?" Ryan asked.

Bless him for thinking to offer her a way out.

"No," she finally said. "I think I'm up for a scoop of moosetracks-" she paused, turning to look at Rick. "Do they have moosetracks?"

"Moosetracks, Rocky Road… Chocolate is their specialty," Rick said with a grin.

"Well, I'm there then."

Rick and Alexis grinned widely. Meredith wasn't as nonplussed as she was attempting to appear.

Rick hurried his daughter to scoop up her bag; they were among the last few groups in the classroom "Everyone else is probably already there, waiting on us," Rick said as he rushed Alexis out the door. "See you guys there!" he called out before the door could shut on them.

Meredith followed, walking several steps ahead of Kate and Ryan as she took a phone call. Ryan paused at the door some moments later as Kate held up a finger, telling him to wait. She herself waited for Ms. Blake to finish speaking with another student, and her parents.

The two other remaining pen-pals and family combos left and Ms. Blake finished up her own conversation.

"I just wanted to thank you," Kate said, reaching out to shake Ms. Blake's hand.

"Thank me?" Ms. Blake laughed. "You're here like you weren't just in a car accident- thank _you!" _

Kate smiled. "I really enjoyed the project, and for what it's worth, I think this is something you should continue to do in the future."

Ms. Blake related her pleasure to hear that as she pulled open the cabinet behind her to retrieve her purse and car keys. "Thank you. That's good to know."

Ryan held the door open for them.

"Are you also going to head over for ice cream?" Kate asked, watching Ms. Blake lock up.

She pulled on the handle to double check as she said, "Yeah, sure, why not? It's on the way home anyway."

As they walked to the parking lot together, Kate took the opportunity to probe a little more on some of things she'd picked up on now that she'd met Alexis face to face, and spent a little time with her parents.

"Alexis is a great kid-"

A smile crossed Ms. Blake's face.

"Yeah, she's sweet, isn't she?"

"I was impressed by some of the questions she asked in her letters.. And she did so well in the presentation."

Ms. Blake nodded, as it came as no surprise to her. "She's usually pretty insightful. Picks up on some things kids her age normally don't. It's always great to see what she comes up with- not that I don't look forward to what the other kids come up with-"

"No, I know," Kate said quickly. Kate hadn't meant to cause her to single out any of the students she was supposed to care for equally. After a few seconds, she said, "I hadn't realized her father was Richard Castle."

Ms. Blake turned to look at her as she continued walking. "It wasn't something she mentioned in her letters?"

"She signed her last name as Harper."

"Mm.. Well, I'm not really sure, but I can't think of any other reason than her knowing how well known her father is and not wanting that to…"

"Influence how I thought of her," Kate filled in.

"Right," Ms. Blake said. She stopped as they reached her car. "5th grade can be a bit of a rough patch for some of the kids. Things start changing, and they start trying to formulate their own identities, you know? Alexis is probably just becoming conscious of the shadow of her parents." She shrugged, but not to minimize her commentary in an offhanded way. "It can be more of a struggle for some than others."

"Do you think Alexis is struggling?"

"Her parents love her," Ms. Blake said, thinking more of Rick's over involvement. "She's well cared for. It's just… Sometimes, split homes, separate parenting styles, the inconsistency… It can be disjointed. Her home situation is a little dysfunctional, but, then again, what is family without a little dysfunction?"

Kate nodded, mostly to herself, as she absorbed the words. Dysfunction bred insecurity.

Kate knew if she wasn't careful, she was going to find herself trying to patch the cracks she was beginning to see.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: a bit of a filler chapter as I try to figure out precisely where it is I want to go with this story! Any thoughts and/or suggestions?**


	18. Chapter 18

As Ryan drove, his eyes continually glanced over at Kate in the passenger's seat. Her eyes were closed as she rested her head back against the seat. The space between her brows wasn't fully relaxed and he could see the way the corners of her lips pulled downwards.

"You sure you're up for this?" he asked.

"I wish everyone would stop asking me that," she replied, not opening her eyes.

Ryan almost smiled as his eyes shifted back to the road.

"You know, while I was watching you demonstrate take downs, I couldn't help but think it was probably better you only had one arm to work with."

At this, Kate cracked an eye.

"Rick probably would have been the one to end up getting hurt. Javi won't admit it, but to this day you still make him nervous when you're sparring."

Kate smiled as she closed her eye again.

"I wouldn't have hurt him," she said, referring to Rick.

"Maybe not intentionally—"

Ryan's phone started to ring.

"It's Javi," he said, glancing at the screen before answering.

"Hey, Javi—"

Kate tapped him on the arm and pointed out the ice cream shop he was about to pass by. "Hold on," he said into the phone and then handed it to Kate. She'd been unprepared for the handoff and fumbled the device as Ryan turned sharply.

"Heyyy, Espo." She motioned to the parking space empty in the front row of the lot. "What was that?" Kate asked having missed his question.

_"__Are you guys finished at the school? I'm wondering if I should meet you to drop off your meds and you forgot your bag, too, by the way." _

Ryan killed the engine as Kate let out a sighed, "shit."

Ryan looked at her while she looked through the large windows of the ice cream parlor. The place was packed, and she could make out a few frazzled looking staff members as they juggled various cups and cone filled with ice cream.

Ryan's hand hovered on his handle, waiting to see if Kate would take the call inside with them. Instead, she waved him to go, miming with an index finger that she'd only be a minute.

"Yeah, no… I heard," Kate said as Ryan's door clicked shut. "I was just thinking."

She phased for a moment as she examined the options.

"You know what?" She asked. "Why don't you just meet us here? It's only about a five minute drive from where you are, I think."

Esposito started to protest so Kate said, "You don't have to, it's up to you, whatever you want to do. We're just getting ice cream, it won't be real long, otherwise we can just meet up with you after."

She watched as a familiar red head popped into view. Her face was serious as her eyes scanned the lot. Kate smiled and waved until Kate found, her face lighting up.

Alexis beckoned her in with an exaggerated hand movement, and Kate held up a finger as she listened to Esposito tell her about the phone call he'd just received.

"Wait, so you're saying he was on something?"

Her smile fell and Alexis' appearance disappeared from the window.

"Well, they're not sure. Shortly after we left the scene, apparently, he started seizing."

"Seizing?" she asked in response.

"Yeah, another ambo came and took him to the hospital. Could be drugs, could be something else.. They're running tests now."

Kate's brow furrowed. "While I'd like there to be a reason other than just another inept New York City driver, I hope it's not something too serious."

She was thinking of a friend of her parents growing up who'd misread various symptoms and written them off as due to lack of sleep and overexertion when it turned out to be a brain tumor.

Kate hand't seen the door of the ice cream shop open, but Alexis now stood on the sidewalk in front of the large windows. She waited for Kate.

"I don't know," Esposito said. "Guess we'll see. Anyway, I'm pulling out of the parking lot now, so I should be about five minutes."

"Sounds good, Espo. See you soon."

Kate ended the call and tucked Ryan's phone in her back pocket and Alexis watched as Kate gingerly removed herself from the car. She was torn between running to help, and not wanting to be in the way.

In the end, she remained on the curb. Alexis worried about the drawn expression on Kate's face, but when she looked up, Kate's face lost its tired look as she smiled. Alexis' worry ebbed.

"Hey Alexis."

"Hi."

"I don't' see any ice cream," Kate said, looking pointedly at Alexis' empty hands.

"I was waiting," she told Kate as they fell into step.

Kate reached to open the door. "Waiting?"

Alexis quickly ducked under Kate's arm to bear the weight of the door herself. She didn't tell Kate it was her she was waiting for, but Kate was perfectly capable of filling in the blanks.

"Jeez, it is _packed_."

Not only was the small parlor crowded, but it was appropriately noisy, given the excitable age of the majority of its patrons.

Kate felt more intimidated standing in the doorway of this ice cream shop than she did in any interrogation. She wondered why that was.

"All of the booths and tables are taken," Alexis told Kate, beginning to lead her into the chaos. "But I saved us seats at the counter." Alexis turned back to see if this was okay.

Kate smiled. "Sounds good. I'll follow you."

She looked for Ryan and found him sandwiched between some kids in a both. He grinned and waved and Rick, who was seated across from him, turned around to see who he was waving at.

Alexis and Kate stopped at their table and Kate noticed Rick try to squeeze closer in to make room.

"That's okay," she said, looking towards the counter with a few empty red topped stools. "Alexis said she nabbed us a couple stools up there." To Ryan, she said, "Espo's on his way. I'm not sure if he's stopping by or staying, but I'll need one of you to give me a ride home."

She handed Ryan back his phone and he told her it wouldn't be a problem; he'd be happy to take her home after.

Rick gently tapped the forearm of an employee as she passed. "Excuse me," he said, smiling wide enough to make her lips mirror his.

"When you get a minute, can you get these two ladies a couple scoops?"

"I sure can," she said, looking at Kate and Alexis. She adjusted her hold on the several bowls in her hands as she asked, "Do you girls know what you'd like?"

"Moosetracks for me, please," Kate said, her eyes then going to the girl who stood by her side.

"Me too."

Rick raised his eyebrows as she forewent her usual strawberry. She caught his bemused smile and shot him a look.

"You got it," the server said with a smile. "It might take me a couple of minutes, but I will get you those as soon as I can."

Alexis placed her hand on Kate's hand for a quick second and Kate picked up on her subtle direction.

"Well," she said to the table of boys. Rick and Ryan made eye contact, but Alexis' young classmates were either too enamored, or too intimidated- or perhaps a bit of both- to look at her for longer than a few seconds. "Alexis and I will be over there. Keen an eye out for Espo, Ryan. He might try calling, too.. He wasn't sure he knew exactly where this place was."

She placed a hand on Alexis' shoulder and started directing he towards the empty stools at the far end. Kate took the one closest to the wall, and angled herself so she could see the entire room. Force of habit, maybe, but she preferred to have an eye on everything around her.

Alexis swung her feet as she watched Kate get situated. She was shy, Kate knew, but she felt her warming up to Kate the way Kate had relaxed midway through the presentation.

"I'm really glad you came."

"I am, too. It was good to finally meet, wasn't it?"

Alexis ducked her head as she said, "Yeah."

Kate knew therew as more to come, she need only be patient enough to wait.

"You did really well with your presentation, Alexis.. I was proud."

Alexis felt her cheeks heat as she took the compliment the way her father had taught her: with a simple thank you.

"Of course.."

Kate absentmindedly placed a hand on her aching shoulder and resisted the urge to roll it as she would if it ached after a long day.

"Does it really hurt?" Alexis asked.

Kate immediately dropped her hand, realizing she'd failed to hide the creeping pain.

"Just aches a bit."

A lot, actually.

"How long do you have to where the sling?"

"Until I feel like I don't need it anymore," Kate answered. "The doctor left it up to me, so probably only a few days."

Alexis' head bobbed as she took in Kate's response.

"Do you get to take time off work since you're hurt?"

"Mm.." Kate's nose wrinkled. "I wish. Unfortunately, I'll probably just be on desk duty for a week or two."

Kate couldn't see herself chained to the desk for longer than 5 days, a week max.

Alexis started to say something as Kate saw Esposito enter the parlor. He looked momentarily disoriented as he acclimated to the chaos. Kate placed a hand on Alexis' forearm, "Hold on a second, honey."

She raise dyer hand to Esposito as she slipped from the stool. She'd expected Alexis would follow.

Somehow Ryan was able to get to Esposito first. Kate and the boys stepped to the side as two girls pushed past, hiding giggles as three boys followed them up until the relative safety of the women's bathroom.

"Hey Kate," Esposito greeted, handing her a small white paper bag with her prescription.

"Thanks," she said, breathing easier with the painkillers in hand. "Did you remember my—"

"Purse?" He asked. "It's in the car."

Ryan smiled. "Didn't want to carry a purse? God, you're such a _man_."

"Excuse you…" Esposito retorted, silencing Ryan's laughs. "I will have you know that I totally rock the murse look."

"Murse?" Kate asked, not sure she even wanted to know.

"Yeah, man purse. Murse."

She couldn't roll her eyes fast enough. "You are… ridiculous."

He bit back a smile knowing full well she loved it.

"Where we sitting?" Esposito asked.

"Well, Ryan's over at that table with Rick and some of the boys. I don't know why, but I think they're a little scared of me—"

Ryan quickly said, "She did show them how to take down someone twice her size.."

"That might be it," Kate said with a smile.

None of this surprised Esposito, the only question he had was who Rick was.

"Alexis' dad," she explained. She then started to turn to point out her and Alexis corner. "And Alexis and I are over-"

As she took a step back to turn, she knocked into someone. The drink in his hand sloshed over the side, brown stains blossomed across the front of his button down. It was Rick, she realized as she'd reached a hand out to grab him.

"I am _so_ sorry," She apologized, turning to Ryan who'd already lunged across the adjacent table for napkins.

"Yeah, I can tell how sorry by that smile on your face," he remarked drily as Kate tried to blot his shirt with the napkins Ryan had given her.

Kate tried and failed to hide her smile. She stopped trying to clean up her mess as she met his gaze. Her smile reached her eyes as she said, "Well, you did say coffee would be on you next time."

Ryan and Esposito shot each other curious looks. It was like they'd forgotten they were even there.

Rick chuckled as he traded Kate the empty mugs for the napkins. "I guess I did say that, didn't I?"

He wiped one hand and then the other.

"Bet that wasn't how you saw that going.." Kate said with a smile.

"Not at all," he admitted, looking up.

Alexis materialized by Rick's side and took in the spilled coffee on the floor as well as his shirt.

"Dad," she intoned, giving Kate and the boys the impression this was something she was accustomed to seeing. "Hey Esposito," she said, giving him a quick smile before turning to ask her father just what had happened.

"It was my fault, actually," Kate said.

"Well, at least this makes us even."

Esposito quirked his brow at his partner, wondering what all he'd missed in the span of one short afternoon.

"They've met already," Ryan began to explain.

"My dad spilled coffee on Kate the last time."

Both Kate and Rick stared at Alexis who stared back right back. "At the coffee shop a few weeks ago, right?"

"How'd you know?' Rick and Kate looked at each other over their shared question for a split second before either one's gaze shifted back to Alexis.

"I didn't _know-_know," she began, growing shy under their scrutiny. "My dad just told me the story… He didn't know… But one of your letters had coffee stains on it…"

Esposito raised his brows at Ryan. "Not bad. Think she's more observant than half the detectives in our precinct."

"Without a doubt."

Kate recalled Alexis' mention of her father in the letter following their encounter. The casual mention of his making up stories, and his latest one being about a woman he'd spilled coffee on.

She'd been fishing for a reaction Kate was used to not giving.

A slow smile crossed her face. "You are quick, aren't you?"

This smile Alexis couldn't hide.

"I think our ice cream is melting," she said, and she and Kate glanced at their bowls waiting for them at the counter where they'd been sitting.

She looked at the boys, her eyes lingering on Rick's a second longer.

"well, we'll leave you boys to it, then."

Kate and Alexis had made it as far as their first bites when Rick appeared between them, breezing in close enough for Kate to get a wave of his subtle cologne.

Before she was able to get a quip off about his inability to stay away, he asked his daughter if she'd seen her mother. His feigned smile was tight enough for Kate to notice.

"She and Paige's mom went next door to get coffee."

"Why would they do that? They have coffee here."

Kate's eyes flickered down to the melting chocolate mess in front of her. Alexis' eyes darted to Kate and then away as she shrugged.

"Well, did she say if she planned on coming back?" Rick asked. He and Meredith had a conversation that needed finishing.

"I think so."

Rick didn't sigh like he wanted to, but even so, Kate could pick up on the irritation. To his credit, it melted away into a smile so uickly, Kate doubted the degree of his annoyance present only a moment ago.

"Alright," he said lightly, his eyes locking with Kate's once more. "Sorry to interrupt. Carry on."

Alexis didn't say anything further on the subject and Kate didn't ask. Instead, they fell into easy conversation on just about everything else. Kate chased the bowl with her spoon, each attempt to scoop a bite only sending it sliding across the surface. Alexis wound up holding it with one hand as Kate recounted stories and Alexis laughed.

Time had initially passed slowly, but every minute soon seemed to pass quicker than the last, until an hour passed and half of another. The place had long since wound down, many pen-pals having jetted off to their next shift, appointment, or kid's soccer practice; parents ushering their kids soon after. Only a handful of them remained.

Alexis was growing quieter as she noted the end around the corner. Alexis was agitated, but couldn't figure out what by. She and Kate had gotten on great, each taking to the other with a quickness neither had anticipated. The attachment bothered Alexis in ways she couldn't articulate, but she thought it might have something to do with the fact that this was the conclusion of their time together, and no longer the beginning with promise of more to come.

Their empty bowls sat stacked in front of Kate, their napkins crumpled up besides.

"Alexis, honey!"

Alexis turned at her mother's voice, wondering when she had made it back. She might not have noted her return, but Kate, from her vantage point, had seen her return a while ago. She'd had trouble not watching her interactions with Rick several tables down. Their proximity baffled her, and at first she couldn't figure out if it was for show, but then she'd caught Meredith's backward glances to see if Kate was watching. She planned on asking her partners about it later, when they had a chance

Feeling like she were back in high school and navigating the choppy waters of needlessly territorial girls, Kate let it roll right off of her. Rick looked back at her every now and again and that was satisfaction enough.

"Should we go see, it looks like they're ready to go.."

Alexis merely nodded before dropping to the floor, Kate sliding off her seat after her.

For Rick's part, it looked like he couldn't get out of the booth fast enough. Meredith had taken advantage of the opportunity to block him in when one of the younger boys had left.

"You ready to go, Alexis?" her mom asked. "We're supposed to be at gallery opening in a couple of hours. We should start getting ready so we're not late."

Alexis looked helplessly at her father who'd promised her earlier that he'd take her for the night so she didn't have to be bored out of her mind at an event she didn't care to go to, with people not half as engaging as Kate, in clothes that weren't the sweatpants and favorite tee she slipped into on Friday nights.

"I thought we agreed she could stay with me tonight, remember?"

Kate looked at Ryan, who looked at Esposito, who rubbed the nape of his neck. Their discomfort grew as Meredith said, "No we didn't. You asked, and I said not tonight."

"But you switch the schedule on me all the time with little to no warning-"

Meredith's eyes shifted to Kate's, as though remembering the audience they had. Rick seemed to register it as well. He nodded towards the door knowing Meredith was loathe to follow.

Before he left, he told Ryan, Espo and Kate that the tab had been settled, and everything taken care of. "We'll just be a minute," he added. He looked at Kate, and wondered at her indecipherable expression. To Alexis, he said, "Don't worry, kiddo. I won't let you go to that dreadfully boring opening. It'll just be you, me, and whatever tv show you feel like marathoning tonight."

Alexis smiled, but Kate saw it was for her father's benefit only. She put her hand on Alexis' shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze.

The four of them were silent, all painfully aware of Alexis' embarrassment, but no one quite knowing how to ease it.

"Espo, my purse is in your car?" Kate suddenly remembered.

"Yeah, backseat-"

"You mind if I have the keys?"

He pulled them from his pocket, nearly tossing them at her before remembering it was a bad idea with one arm in a sling.

"Come on, Alexis. I forgot I had something for you."

Alexis hung back a moment, looking at Ryan and Esposito who wondered what she was waiting for. It only took her a second or two before she ran after Kate. She didn't think she'd heard right when Kate said she'd had something for her.

Her mind raced as she tried to guess what it might be. She followed Kate to the car, passing her parents on the way.

"No, it has nothing to do with that and everything to do with the fact that when you do this in front of Alexis, you're completely undermining my authority as a parent," Meredith said, her voice almost shrill.

Kate's lips pursed as she glanced back to see if Alexis had heard. Either she'd heard and pretended she hadn't, or had missed the remark completely as she hurried to keep up with Kate.

When they reached Esposito's car, Kate unlocked the doors. She pulled open the door and started to lean in when her shoulder gave a painful twinge.

"Alexis, would you mind-"

Alexis jumped at the opportunity to help, pulling Kate's bag from the far seat and handing it to her as she climbed back out of the car.

It didn't take Kate long to find it, it was still sitting near the top. Thankfully, the accident hadn't completely ruined the soft pink tissue paper she'd wrapped it with. She'd wanted to pick up actual wrapping paper, or a small bag at the very least, but hadn't had the time. The pink tissue paper was all she'd managed to find.

Alexis took the book sized gift from Kate. It wasn't hard to guess it was a book. It made sense, the size, and shape, and feel of it. She looked up at Kate who seemed to wait for her to open it.

Gingerly, and without the rush like birthday presents, she peeled back the paper to reveal a leather bound book. The leather was soft and supple. Her fingers ghosted over the designed impressed on its bindings. It wasn't a book, she thought as she opened it and flipped through the blank pages, but a journal. She flipped back to the first page where Kate had stuck a small note.

To my favorite pen-pal-

Happy writing!

There was a small heart before Kate's signed name.

PS Do you even know what PS stands for?

Alexis smiled as she looked up.

"Post script," she said, in answer to Kate's question.

"Should've known you'd know."

Before she could think twice, Alexis had wrapped around Kate's side, hugging her more tightly than she'd intended.

"Thank you."

Kate hugged Alexis before she'd pulled away.

"I wasn't sure if you already kept a journal, but if you want to be a writer, it's a good place to start."

Alexis was at a loss for words, the sadness breaking through more forcefully at the thought of the imminent goodbye. She wordlessly followed Kate back to where her parents now waited with Ryan and Esposito, all now wearing smiles as they laughed about something.

"What do you have there, Lex?"

The dimple of her smile deepened as she glanced at Kate for a short second before holding the journal out to her father.

"Kate gave me a journal."

He reached out to take it, but Alexis held fast.

"You still taking me home?" Kate asked Ryan.

"Ready when you are."

This caught Alexis' attention again. And Rick's.

Kate reached out to shake Meredith's hand and then Rick's, the boys following suit.

"It was nice to meet you," she said to Meredith. "And to officially meet you, I guess," she said with smile to Rick.

"Maybe next time we can enjoy our coffee without one of us wearing it."

Kate's smile softened. "That'd be nice."

She looked at Meredith again, "You two have a wonderful daughter."

Both Ryan and Esposito echoed similar sentiments, causing Alexis' blush to deepen even further as she averted her eyes.

She teetered on this moment, wanting it to last a little bit longer.

But Kate and her partners started for their cars.

Kate turned to walk backwards a few steps as she called out, "Bye, Alexis!"

The lump in her throat didn't allow for words, so she waved instead.

She wanted many things in that moment, the greatest one being reassurance that a _bye_ was somehow different than a goodbye.

Less final.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: You know what I should have done? I should have started this story with Alexis living with her father, and having no idea who her mom was, but a burning desire to find out. Do you know how great it would have been to have her try to enlist Kate's help to figure out who her mom is (because her dad won't tell her, or why she isn't around in the first place)? And then all that hope being crushed by disappointment when she finally meet her? And the realization that Kate was the kind of mother she had hoped to have, and her being sad because she wasn't? Like, guys... I missed out on such a great plot right there. That could have been so good. I had half a mind to rework this story from the beginning to make it happen. Ugh. **

**Anyway! Sorry for the longer break between chapters than normal! Starting stories is easy, it's staying with them that gets hard. Hope you liked the chapter. **


	19. Chapter 19

Alexis carried the journal with her from the time Kate had given it to her to the time she'd curled up in bed. She'd spent more time reading over Kate's last short message than actually putting pen to paper.

Every time she'd press the tip of the pen to the page, she'd stop. There were several small blue dots for each attempt. She'd never kept a journal. Well, she'd tried once, but only wrote sporadically, and she she hated reading what she wrote. Instead of eliciting memories of the days captured on the lined pages, all she could focus on was how silly she sounded. So when faced with the question of what the point was if she refused to ever look on what she'd written, she'd decided that there wasn't one. There were ragged edges left in that notebook from the entries she'd ripped out. The pages had been torn into pieces before being buried deep in the trash. That journal, its remaining pages as blank as when she'd first gotten it, was at her mom's house somewhere, probably on one of her book shelves.

This journal, she wanted to be different. She was determined that the words inside be as pretty as the designs without. She had to choose her words, her stories, her feelings carefully.

"Hey pumpkin-"

As promised, her dad came to tuck her in. It didn't matter that she was almost 10, she liked having someone to kiss her goodnight and wish her sweet dreams.

Rick came in to sit on the small space of her bed, between its edge and her hip. He smiled softly as he took in the closed leather book on her lap.

"Good day, huh?"

"Yeah," she said, looking down at the journal her father presumed she'd already begun to fill.

"Was Kate as awesome as you thought she'd be?"

"Yeah," she said again, a smile tugging at her lips.

She was somehow even greater than Alexis could have thought possible.

"I thought so, too."

The next words she anticipated hearing were to to wish her a good night, but she wasn't ready for the light to be turned out, or for her father to leave her quite yet. She could always trust him to be honest.

"Mom didn't like Kate very much, did she?"

Alexis watched her father's face, but it remained neutral.

"Yeah, well… How many people can we think of that your mom really likes to begin with?"

Alexis cracked a smile. That was true. There weren't many friends of her mother's that Alexis could think of that hadn't, at one point or another, managed to let her mother down in some small but unforgivable way. There were maybe two people in total that hadn't been verbally undressed behind their backs. Meredith's standards were high in more ways than one.

"Why does it matter what your mom thinks?" Her father asked.

Alexis looked down and shrugged. It was easy to like that which others also liked; their approval was an inborn validation. It was difficult to reconcile the loyal misgivings that arose when someone she loved disapproved, or, more confusingly, showed reluctant support.

"So what," he said. "She was your pen-pal, not your mother's.. And you think Kate is awesome. That's all that really matters, right?"

Because she knew which answer he was looking for, she nodded.

"But you liked Kate?" Approval. Validation. Support.

"Liked? Are you kidding?" He practically swooned, and Alexis smiled. Rick sat up so he was no longer draped across his daughter and crushing her under his weight for the sake of dramatics. His expression sobered so Alexis would take his next words more seriously. "It's okay to like someone even if your mom and I don't. Well," he amended. "In most cases, anyway. Why do you think your mom didn't like Kate? Did she tell you that?"

Alexis shook her head. It was just a feeling she had.

"Was mom jealous?" She asked rather suddenly.

"Jealous? What would your mom have to be jealous over?" He asked. Rick could think of several things right off the bat. He wanted to know if his daughter could.

If she did know, she chose not to say.

"Do you think we'll see her again? Kate?"

"I don't know," Rick answered honestly. He hoped so. He imagined asking her for coffee. Coffee turning into lunch, and lunch into dinner. His imagination seemed to know no bounds because each reckoning led to another.

Kate had neither asked for nor suggested a meeting in the future. In all honesty, he'd been rather surprised that she hadn't with how taken she had appeared with his daughter by the afternoon's end.

"I have Ryan's number, though. We can always text and ask if they want to get together for lunch sometime.. Or dinner."

Alexis didn't feel inclined to say anything. The absence of an obvious desire to stay in touch by Kate seemed to make more of a difference to Alexis than the fact that her father possessed a way to make it happen.

"You were hoping Kate would want to stay in touch."

It wasn't a question, but a voiced realization.

"You still have her address at the precinct," he pointed out. "Why don't we pick up a card for her tomorrow to say thank you, and you can give her your phone number or your email. She probably didn't realize you'd want to stay in touch.."

Alexis' lips pressed together, but she nodded.

"Okay."

"Okay," he echoed with a smile.

Alexis leaned in, anticipating his kiss on her forehead. She set her journal on the nightstand, within easy reach, just in case she woke from a dream she wanted to remember. Alexis burrowed under her big comforter and tucked her knees into her chest.

"I love you, Alexis."

"Love you, too," she sighed, eyes closed.

Her father turned out the lights and wished her sweet dreams.

xx

Thoughts tumbled in Rick's head as he puttered around the kitchen. He began unloading the dishwasher, stacking plates and tucking away utensils.

He should have made a point to ask for Kate's number, or suggested they stay in touch. It bothered him that she had so easily walked away after having made sure to make a lasting impression on his daughter. He eyed his phone on the counter and contemplated texting Ryan. It was for Alexis, he reasoned.

Alexis or not, he should be considerate enough to wait until morning. He could sleep on it. Likely, the urge to fix this himself will have passed by morning, and he would take Alexis to pick out a card as he'd promised. They'd mail it first thing Monday, and before Alexis knew it—

_Bzz. Bzz. Bzz._

The screen of his phone lit up and the vibrations continued. His eyebrows quirked as he leaned over to check.

He didn't recognize the number, but he answered anyway.

"Hello?"

"He-ey-" Whoever was on the other line hadn't expected him to answer, most likely given the time, but they quickly recovered. "It's Kate. From earlier."

The smile on his face grew as he leaned over the counter. As if she'd needed to specify.

"Hi, Kate. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine, and you?"

"Couldn't be better."

This had to be a sign.

"Listen, I hope you don't mind that I got your number from Ryan-"

"No, not at all- What can I do for you? Or were you just calling to ask about that date?"

The few hours he'd spent with her were more than enough to picture the eye roll such a remark was bound to get.

"Date? What date?"

He'd been hoping for a stammer, a stumble over words, anything to show he'd made her nervous, but her feathers were as unruffled as they ever were.

"Yeah," he said, slipping into the charm that came so naturally. "That one I know you're just dying to go on."

"Oh, am I now?"

Rick smiled as he traced patterns on the perfectly clean countertop. He abandoned the absent distraction almost as quickly as he'd started. "So are you asking?"

"Would you say yes?"

It took every ounce of self control not to give an immediate and most emphatic answer. Instead, he tried for casual. "I mean, I guess..if you're asking…"

"Mm.." her hum sounded warm in his ear and he imagined her half-smile. "Good to know, but I wasn't asking."

If she was half-smiling before, she was grinning now. Kate had almost not made the call to begin with at all, but talked herself into it thinking it was late enough he wouldn't answer and she could just get away with leaving a voicemail. Now she couldn't even remember why she'd been nervous in the first place, the conversation came as easy as it had this afternoon. In fact, she was surprised to find she was having to keep herself in check- she wasn't prone to making such cheeky remarks, but she found that with Rick those seemed to be the first ones to come to mind.

"Actually, I was calling for couple reasons, one of them being I had a card I'd picked up for Alexis which, apparently, didn't make it into her journal…" Kate said, turning the envelope over in her hands. She set it down on her nightstand. She'd known she was going to forget to put it in; she could have kicked herself when she saw it sitting on the kitchen table when she returned home.

"I could send it to the school," she continued, "But, I thought it'd be better to just send it to her house instead, or I could even run it by…"

The suggestion sounded so brazen, it made her cringe and work to backtrack, even knowing full well her intent had been innocent. "It's not a big deal. It was just a little thank you note, and my email and phone number in case she'd ever wanted to get in touch or if she needed anything…"

She was surprised by Rick's laughter.

"Oh, boy," he murmured, mostly to himself. "Am I in trouble or what."

His daughter and this dream of a woman were a match made in heaven. There was an obvious hope to stay in contact, but a shared insecurity that the sentiment wasn't returned.

"You know, Alexis was really bothered by the fact that she didn't have any way of contacting you. I think she was rather taken with you, which I most certainly can't blame her for—"

He heard Kate scoff before trying to turn the conversation back on point.

"Any_way_, long story short, that was why I was calling. That, and to tell you what a wonderful job you've done raising your daughter."

Rick's smile froze on his lips as he was taken aback by the simple compliment.

"Parenting is a relatively thankless job, I imagine," Kate continued, likely unaware of the stillness that had overtaken him. "And I haven't met very many kids like your daughter, so you must be doing something right."

Rick had to clear his throat before he could attempt a response. "I—thank you. That means a lot. Truly."

There was a short pause. Neither was quite sure how to continue. Her statement had appeared to carry far more weight than she'd intended.

"Well," she finally said. "I'm sorry again about the time. Please be sure to tell Alexis to get in touch anytime she wants. I'd love to hear from her... I don't know what I'm going to do now that I don't have sweet letters to look forward to."

Rick smiled as he thought of his daughter fast asleep upstairs. If only she'd known of the phone call he would get after he'd tucked her into bed.

"I'll be sure to do that."

"Thank you.. And it was… Nice meeting you today."

"You too, Detective Beckett."

Her lips quirked at her title, but it didn't sound formal in the same way it did when used by her colleagues. It almost sounded personal.

"Goodnight," she said.

"Wait! Just one last…" He tried to tamp down the nervous flutter. "If I were to ask about... that date… would you say yes?"

"Is this you asking?"

Rick didn't hesitate.

"Yes."

Neither did she.

"Then yes."


	20. Chapter 20

"Is that what you're wearing?"

Kate looked up as she finished buttoning her coat. Esposito sat on the corner of Ryan's desk and they were both facing towards her, watching her curiously.

"Yeah…" She said slowly. "Why?"

"Mm.. It's just not screaming date to me-" Esposito mused, his eyes pouring over her outfit, which wasn't any different than the one she wore on any other day. Ryan nodded in agreement.

"Screams detective more than anything else," he offered. Kate's eyes drifted towards the ceiling, wondering when they'd grown so comfortable to give opinions she didn't ask for. Oh, yeah, pretty much always.

"Well, I am a detective so that does make sense."

Kate's bored tone was one people often took with incorrigible children, there was no use disagreeing, so she pretended to entertain their commentary.

"You know what's not making sense," Esposito started. "A date at three in the afternoon."

He turned to to Ryan. "That make any sense to you?"

Kate rolled her eyes as she leaned over her chair and, with a few strokes on the keyboard, logged off the system and shut down the monitor.

"It's a late lunch," she said, feeling weird at the defensive edge that managed to creep in.

"Exactly."

Her eyebrows quirked and Esposito plowed on as though he were knowledgable in all things dating. "Late lunch says he likes you more than a coffee date, but his interest isn't great enough to take you for dinner."

At this, Ryan gave him a side-eye.

"That is… Completely not true," he told Kate whose face, if he was not mistaken, showed a hint of uncertainty.

Esposito did a double take, "What do you mean it's not true? If I'm interested in a girl, I ask them to dinner, not coffee, not lunch, breakfast maybe, if it's the morning after.."

"Okay, Javi, you know what.. You're being ridiculous," Ryan said with a shake of his head. "If you follow his logic, you'll be in trouble. I took Jenny out any chance I got- lunch, dinner," he shrugged. "Even if it was to just stroll around central park for the afternoon."

Esposito scoffed, and Kate could tell Ryan bit back a response.

"A date is whatever you want it to be. Did he call it a date?"

Kate couldn't believe she was entertaining these questions any longer. It was ridiculous.

"Yes-"

"Well, then there you go," Ryan said with an easy smile. Almost all of Ryan's smiles came easy, and almost all of his smiles prompted one of Kate's own.

"All I'm saying is that I play the field, I think I know what I'm talking about-" Esposito grumbled.

Kate raised her eyebrows as she swiped her keys off her desk and tucked them in her pocket.

"I'm not sure that's a good thing-"

"Yeah, well.. Good or bad, from my understanding, Mr. Richard Castle's also one to play the field."

Kate's eyes narrowed. Esposito wouldn't be caught dead reading a chick magazine, and she doubted he read the gossip section of the paper, much less even read it. Yet, he seemed to know enough about Richard Castle's personal ventures to pass judgement.

"Been doin' some research, have we?" Kate inquired.

Esposito sniffed as his shoulders shrugged and he hopped off the desk.

Kate tilted her head and Esposito avoided her stare. "Are you looking out for me, Javier Esposito?"

He continued to mumble incoherently all the way back to his desk. Ryan shared a look with Kate, more understanding than anything.

"Catch you later. Hope you have a good time, Beckett."

xx

Rick stood outside the cafe, eyes scanning the crowds as they passed. Occasionally he'd look up at an errant honk, thinking it was intended to get his attention specifically. He frowned as he looked down at his watch. It was six minutes passed the agreed upon time. Kate didn't strike him as one to be late.

Maybe she'd forgotten.

Or stood him up.

While he was trying to figure out which was worse, Kate sat in the back of a taxi, tapping her fingers impatiently on the seat in front of her.

"Here, here! Right here!" She cried suddenly.

The cab stopped so abruptly Kate was propelled backwards in her seat.

She couldn't wait to have a car of her own to drive again.

Rick's eyes caught the yellow taxi, and he leaned forward a little to try to see through the window. His first steps towards the cab were slow as his eyes squinted. The tinting was dark, darker than normal. Was that even legal?

He was almost sure though… He committed, and slowly pulled the door open.

"Kate!" He greeted, equal parts relieved and childishly ecstatic.

She looked surprised to see him there holding her door open, but slid across the seats to exit the car with more grace than Rick was ever able to manage in such cramped quarters.

He started to offer his hand, only to find she'd already extricated herself.

She gave him a smile as he shut the door.

"Hi."

"Hi," he returned, his smile slightly wider. "I was beginning to think you'd stood me up."

She cast a look over her shoulder as she walked towards the cafe.

"Why would I do that?"

Rick shrugged, and he waited for the gaggle of people that had separated him from Kate to pass. She waited for him on the other side.

"I just managed to hit every single light, or rather, the taxi cab driver managed to hit every light."

Kate started to pull the door to the cafe open, assuming he would follow, but his light grip on her elbow stopped her.

"Actually… This isn't where our reservation is…"

"Oh," she returned dumbly. Her cheeks flushed, and she was embarrassed for having presumptuously taken the lead.

"If… that's okay…" Rick said.

"No, I just… I thought this is where you said-"

"It was," he assured. "I just figured it was well known enough a place for you to know, but really-" he nodded towards the entry to the subway. "We actually need to hop on the train.."

She responded how he had worried she might; she didn't.

"Or we could eat here, too…"

She quickly came to her senses and shook her head, "No, no.. That's fine," she told him, taking a few steps towards the entrance of the station.

He fell in step alongside her, praying this would go over well.

"Can I ask where we're going?" She asked a few minutes later as they waited on the platform.

He peered down the tunnel, and then back at her.

"Well, you can, but it'd ruin part of the surprise."

She smiled to refrain from telling him she didn't like surprises. They could hear the train, and see its faint headlights before they could actually see it.

He tugged her back from the platform a little bit, the same way he did Alexis. Kate intended to make a smart remark, only to look at his face and find it had been an unconscious motion on his part, purely protective reflex.

She wondered if that came from being a father, or if he'd always been like that.

The doors opened and, because it was not quite the end of the normal workday, only a few people exited. Rick and Kate were shared the car with only four others.

Kate preferred to stay standing, but when she saw Rick meant to sit, she realized she didn't know just how long Rick intended this ride to last. So, she sat down in the seat next to his.

The conversation had become somewhat stilted since Rick had announced the change of plans. Rick was beginning to realize plan changes might not have been the best idea without having known Kate better… It had just felt like such a good idea at the time…

"So…" Kate said, her eyes purveying the other occupants briefly before her eyes settled on Rick. "How's Alexis doing?"

"Good, real good, actually." He smiled. "She's mighty bummed she couldn't come, but she's at her mom's house until tomorrow."

"So how does that work? Do you guys have joint custody and it's, like, on a weekly basis—" She shook her head. "I'm sorry that's… intrusive.. and none of my business."

Rick laughed and bumped her shoulder with his.

"Not at all. Ask me whatever; I'm an open book… Unless you ask me about what I'm planning on doing now that my Derrick Storm series has ended."

Kate's eyes got a mischievous glint, "Why?" she asked. "Top secret?"

Rick laughed again, appreciating the way her smile reached her eyes. "No, I can't tell you because I don't know."

"You don't know?" Her tone and the tilt of her chin accused him of fibbing. "Really? No prospects? No ideas?"

"Oh, I have lots of ideas," Rick told her. "Just not any that I see really going anywhere or turning into anything special."

Her chin lowered as her gaze leveled with his. She believed him.

"I'm sure you'll think of something. If your imagination is anywhere near as wild as Alexis has led me to believe…"

Rick rolled his eyes. "Her imagination is just a wild as mine."

"Well, that would make sense, seeing as she's your daughter."

The train lurched to its third or fourth stop and its doors opened to a few waiting people. Rick leapt to his feet as he realized this was their stop. He pulled Kate up after him and they slipped through the doors as they were closing.

Their delayed exit irritated the people inside as it caused the doors to reopen. They would get over it; it was only an added few seconds.

As they climbed the stairs, side by side, Kate mentally noted the stop wasn't in the best of neighborhoods. It had come a long way in recent years, but time had not yet erased its reputation completely.

"Just… Don't make any judgements yet," Rick said, kind of nervously.

Kate looked at him, and found that any judgement was hard to pass, the imprint of their last laugh too fresh to think of much else. She remembered herself, and schooled her features, her smile softening until she was absolutely positive there was no goofy sparkle in her eye.

"I will withhold all judgement until after I've eaten," she promised.

"Good… Because I think after food this good, you'll have complete faith in my future choices of venue."

She followed him into a corner bar that looked dimly lit to the point of closed down, smiling because of one key word: _future_.

"'Ey! Tony!" Rick boomed.

His loud greeting startled the few patrons as the man behind the bar threw his rag on his shoulder and beamed.

"Rick, my favorite jackass!"

His italian accent made Kate think of the Godfather.

"We go way back," Rick said to Kate.

_Clearly_, Kate thought, watching as Tony came around to hug Rick, clapping him on the back. When he stepped away, he offered his hand with an impressive delicate air.

"And you must be Kate," he said warmly.

Kate looked at Rick as Tony pressed a kiss on the top of her hand.

Tony released her hand and gestured to Rick. "I have your table just like you asked."

Rick motioned for Kate and they followed Tony to a table tucked in the back. The table was set nice, nicer than Kate would have expected given the way the place had looked from the outside. Then again, its interior had a certain appeal..

Tony leaned behind their table and the small space was lit in the same instant. White christmas lights dangled in lines across the ceiling.

Kate looked at Rick and the smile he gave acknowledged the cheesiness.

She actually thought it was charming, in a weird, offbeat sort of way… But she'd thought that about Rick too.

"I promise the food's good," he whispered in her ear as Tony climbed to his feet.

"What're you two whisperin' about?" Tony asked, squinting at them suspiciously.

"Just telling Kate how good the food is, Tony." He turned to Kate. "It's family owned and run. His mother does most of the cooking, but his father's baking is to die for."

Tony wagged a finger at Rick. "Hey, hey, hey. If it gets out that my dad likes to bake, it'll ruin his whole image."

Rick mimed zipping his lips shut and tossing away the key. Kate rolled her eyes and wondered at the situation she found herself in, as she dropped in her seat.

"So, what'll it be?" Tony asked as soon as Rick had also found his seat.

"Oh- I…" Kate looked for a menu, but there wasn't one.

Tony waved his hand. "We can whip up just about anything."

"Anything?" She asked, dubious.

"Anything Italian," he clarified. "None of that Mexican shit or that weird Thai nonsense. We're talkin' real food here."

Kate's eyes flicked to Rick to see his amused smile.

"I think I'll have whatever the chef recommends," she told him.

"And to drink?"

"Water, please?" Tony did a double take as if he disapproved of her boring choice, but he was too polite to comment on it. "And for you, Rick? The usual?"

Rick nodded. "You know me!"

Kate watched Tony disappear behind some doors.

"So what's the usual then?"

Rick smiled. "Whatever the chef recommends. I just didn't want to look like I was copying you."

Kate shook her head, and Rick reminded himself to keep his childish remarks to a minimum, only to find the hint of a smile encouragement enough.

Tony blustered back in a couple of minutes later. A man his size shouldn't be capable of making the amount of noise he did simply by entering a room.

He set the two glasses of ice water down on the table, water spilling a little over the sides. Kate expected him to leave the water and go, but he lingered.

Kate looked up at him, waiting.

"So…" he said. He pointed between Kate and Rick. "How'd the two of yous meet."

Kate nearly smiled at the plural you, his was far more subtle than most of the mafia tough guys she'd encountered in her times as a beat cop, and somehow more endearing than irritating.

Kate waited for Rick to answer.

"Well, uh…" He hesitated and he looked at her as if he might find the answer written on her face. "It's kind of a weird story, actually. You remember Alexis?"

"Ah, Alexis, Little Red, are you kiddin' me? Course, I do." Tony looked at Kate and shook his head. "Cutest damn kid I ever saw. Don't tell my wife I said that… Far as she knows, our kids are the cutest kids I ever saw."

Rick waited for Tony's attention to return before continuing. "Anyway, her fifth grade class—"

"Fifth grade?!" Tony nearly staggered backwards. "Nah! You can't be serious. She was this big!"

He held his hand a few feet above the ground, and Kate imagined a five year old Alexis, and what a precious picture that painted.

"You're telling me!" Rick said, equally emphatic. "_Anyway, _her fifth grade class had to do this project, and they were paired up with different people in different professions."

"Like a career day kind of thing?"

"Yeah, sort of… Only they wrote letters to each other back and forth for a couple of months, and Kate here was who Alexis was paired with.

"And what job is it you do, Kate?" Tony asked, his eyes fixing on her.

"I'm a detective.. Homicide division."

Tony's eyes widened. "You're a cop?!" He whipped around to look at Rick. "She's a cop?!" Back to Kate. "You gonna arrest me?"

She held his eyes carefully.

"That depends.. Have you murdered anyone?"

"No—"

"Done anything illegal?"

"Not today…"

Kate hummed as she pretended to think for a minute before reaching her deliberation. "Well, then I guess not today."

"Sorry," Rick apologized when Tony finally left the table.

"No," Kate said, setting her water back down. "Don't be. I like him."

"You do?"

"Yeah." She smiled. "He's a real character."

"You know Luca, the C.I. in Derrick Storm—"

Kate didn't need him to specify which novel. "Oh my… No!"

Rick nodded. "Uh-huh!"

"I can totally see it now!" Kate said, laughing. "That's so great…Are all of your characters based off of people you know."

"Not all of them, but a lot. And some more loosely based then others.."

"You're Derrick Storm, I imagine then."

"Like I said, some more loosely than others," he answered cryptically.

"So is that a yes or a no?"

"What do you think?" Rick asked seriously.

Kate held his gaze. She paused. "I think I don't know you well enough to say…Yet."

Rick's brows rose. "Yet?"

"So, will I be making an appearance in your next book, whatever it may be? Like some random lady who befriends the daughter of a distinguished, award winning journalist or something?"

"Who befriends the daughter of a distinguished, award winning journalist," he recites back with an amused smile.

"Just spitballing," she said.

"Spitballing, huh.." he echoed. Damn if every moment spent in her company didn't make him fall a little bit harder, a little bit faster.

"I'd say you'd be more of a main character than a supporting."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I had such trouble finding the motivation for this chapter, but I think it worked out! :)**


	21. Chapter 21

The corner of the page curled under Alexis' finger as she flipped to the next one. A faint crease marked her haste to finish the heart racing chapter. She had no intentions of setting the book down, but her phone buzzed. Curiosity demanded she see who it was.

Because she knew it couldn't be Paige. They were in a fight. Well, not a fight, but… They hadn't been getting along lately; things had been a little off between them.. And besides Paige, there weren't very many other people who'd be texting her.

She set her book face down to keep her page, her mind still entangled with the protagonist even as she reached for her phone.

It was her dad.

Her thumb on the home button unlocked the screen and immediately opened the messages app.

She smiled at the picture.

It was of Kate and her dad, her dad wearing a goofy grin he normally reserved for laser tag and midnight movie premieres. Kate, on the other hand, wore a half smile, and in it Alexis could make out the same amused tolerance she felt in the presence of her father one of his moods. Amusement and a warmth that transcended the distance of a text message now.

The animated bubble with dots became a message.

_Look who I'm with!_

Alexis smiled and the three dots reappeared.

_Kate says hi :) _

A different feeling tugged at Alexis' smile.

_Tell her I say hi, _she wrote.

The dots appeared again and then disappeared a few seconds later. She watched the screen, waiting for the dots, willing the next message to come.

When it didn't she asked, _Where are you guys?_

She watched the screen, but no bubble appeared to show a response would be coming.

Alexis pictured them as they'd been at the ice cream shot. Smiling, laughing as if they had known each other longer than an afternoon. She'd craved to be a part of that intimate exchange then, and she wanted it even more now.

Her screen, which had gone dark with inactivity, lit up to show her father was calling.

Alexis' heart flip-flopped in her chest as she pictured Kate and her father making the call together. Maybe she would want to talk to her. No. Why would she—

"Hello?" She answered hesitantly.

"Hi pumpkin!" Her father boomed. "How's it goin?"

"Pretty good.."

"Yeah? What are you up to right now, kiddo?"

"Nothing." The answer came immediately with the assumption that it might lead to his asking if she wanted to do something.

"Nothing?" He asked. "Thought you might be at Paige's, or what's that other girl's name? The one you said you liked but didn't know very well? I thought you and she had plans to hang out sometime soon?"

"Oh, Maggie? No, she's busy this weekend."

With Paige.

The thought made the pain flare. She was surprised to find out how much it stung to be left out, even when she pretended not to care.

"So you and your mom are just hanging out?"

Alexis looked at her book.

"Yeah."

Her father hummed distractedly on the other line. "Mm..Fun, fun. Well, Kate and I just had a late lunch—"

Alexis heard someone say something in the background. Her father laughed.

"I guess it was dinner, according to Kate. She says she ate enough for breakfast, lunch and dinner!"

Alexis smiled weakly at his jovial tone. The happiness present in his voice made its absence in Alexis felt more strongly.

"Where'd you guys eat?"

"At my buddy Tony's. You remember Tony, don't you?"

Alexis chewed on her lip as she thought, but no Tonys came to mind.

"No, I don't think so."

"Oh, come on, you gotta remember Tony. Ah, well, I guess you were little, but he remembers you! I'll have to bring you in sometime, he'd love that."

"Yeah," she answered, more for the sake of having some way of responding that didn't involve silence.

She heard someone say something in the background again, it sounded like it was a woman's voice, so most likely it was Kate. There was also an incoherent, but persistent buzz, like he was in a crowded place.

"So what are you guys doing?"

"Oh, we just got some cheesecake near where we ate. We're walking to the subway now, going to head back home—"

More unintelligible whisperings. She heard her father's muffled "Yeah, yeah. Separate homes, she knows, she knows."

"Anyway, kiddo. Just wanted to say hi. Kate says you two'll have to catch up. She wants to know why you haven't emailed—"

More incoherent back-chatter, followed by the sound of the phone changing hands.

"Alexis?"

Alexis' nerves caused her heart to stutter step.

"It's Kate-"

"I know," she said quickly. "Hi.."

"I just wanted to say no worries on why you haven't emailed. I know you're probably plenty busy with school, not to mention this handful of a father you have to deal with.."

Alexis smiled as she rubbed her sweaty palm on her blanket.

"Just… anytime you want, feel free to shoot me an email, okay? I'm always around."

"Okay."

Kate interpreted her one syllable answer as a reflection of her own stilted awkwardness and moved to quickly end the moment for the both of them.

"Talk to you soon. Take care, Alexis."

And just like that, all too quickly, she was gone.

Her father reclaimed the phone in the short time it took to utter, "You too."

"Alright, Lex… I'll see you bright and early in the morning.. You still want to go to that paint on pottery place?"

The paint on pottery place had been her and Paige's idea, they were going to make plans to meet up, but she doubted that would be happening this weekend. Part of her wanted to wait, the other part won out.

"Sure," she said.

"Sounds like a plan, kiddo. I love you! Remind your mom I'll be there around 8.."

"Okay.."

"I love you," he said again, since his first had gone without acknowledgment.

"Love you more."

"I love you most!"

He hung up before she could argue the point further.

xx

Alexis tried to read, but after rereading the same passage three times over, she gave up. She listlessly paced her room. She packed for her week with her dad, even though her packing was pretty much limited to her latest book, her journal and whatever stuff she needed for school. Clothes were something of which either house had no shortage.

She looked at the picture on her phone again.

Kate's head leaned ever so slightly towards her dad's direction, looking both bemused and exasperated. Her father's arm stretched out awkwardly in front of him to snap the picture, his other one was draped loosely around Kate's shoulder.

Their smiles were both so genuine, and their happiness almost tangible. Alexis desperately wanted to be part of it. Instead, it merely felt alienating.

Alexis left her phone on her bed, next to the book she was too distracted to read.

She padded quietly down the hallway to her mother's room where the light shone through the crack of the door. Her first inclination was to knock, but she remembered that her mom had said after dinner she would be working on memorizing script for her audition.

She turned the knob as quietly as she could and pushed the door open. Her mom was sitting against the headboard, sheets of paper spread around her unmade bed. She hardly looked up, or down, rather, as she was staring up at the ceiling, her lips moving silently.

Alexis climbed on the queen size bed, slipping her legs underneath the covers with as little disruption to the array of papers as possible. She watched as her mother worked through the script. It would have been as if she weren't even there, but Meredith placed a hand on Alexis' knee and gave it a pat. Several more minutes passed and Alexis smiled as she watched her mother work in perfect silence.

"Hey, Lex," her mother finally said. She haphazardly scooped up the papers before looking at her daughter. "What's up, sweetheart?"

"Nothing," Alexis answered. The restless sentiment persisted, loudly enough for Meredith to catch.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Alexis said again. She moved so her head was on her mom's lap, and, for a short second, fingers carded through her hair, but only long enough move the papers Alexis had trapped beneath her head.

"Is it Paige?"

"Mhmm," Alexis hummed.

Which was true, at least half true, her silly squabble with Paige had preoccupied her for most of the afternoon, but it was also easier to use as an excuse than her being upset for some inarticulable reason over a picture message and a phone call layered in degrees of desire she couldn't make sense of.

It was the same reason she found herself crawling in bed with her mom.

"It'll pass. You girls are at that age. You're going to find that your friends can be catty and sometimes a little hurtful."

Alexis didn't bother to respond. Her mother had already given her this advice, her condescending tone only worsening each time.

She turned the focus back on her mom.

"How's practicing going?"

Meredith beamed as she said, "Great!"

She grabbed at the papers, thumbing through them until she found the first one.

"I think I basically have it down."

"When's the audition?" Alexis asked, attempting to read the page at the weird angle she was currently at.

"I'm flying to LA Wednesday, and the audition is on Friday. Although, from what they tell me, it's hardly an audition, and more of a table read."

Alexis turned her head to look up at her mom who was smiling down at her. "Really?"

"Everyone I've spoken to has pretty much said I'm a shoo-in for this role."

Alexis eyed her mother carefully. They'd been through this before. She'd seen her mother get her hopes up before, only to receive a perfunctory email or text to say otherwise.

"This time isn't like the others." Meredith's smile widened again. "Trust me."

Alexis heard the the pages ruffle as her mother spread them out in front of her again. "I've been over and over and over this script.. And I really think I understand this character. Like, in a way I haven't understood any character before. I mean, I _get _her. I'm going to nail this audition."

Alexis smiled. "I'm really excited for you, mom."

"Me, too, honey."

"Do you want me to help you do a run through?" Alexis asked, reaching out to take the script.

"That would be awesome!" Meredith nudged Alexis' head from her lap, and straightened as prepared to pull it all together.

Alexis worked through the script with her mom two times in perfection, and she could see. There was something in this material that was different from any in the past. Her mom made the printed script in Alexis' hand come alive in the same way her father brought to life the many stories in his head.

"Mom," she said, slowly lowering the pages as she realized the real possibility of her mother landing this role. "What does this mean? If you get this role?"

"Well, it'd be a pivotal moment in my career, that's for sure! I think this show has _so_ much potential, and has the ability to open up so many other opportunities for me-us." Meredith squeezed Alexis' forearm. "It'll be big, Lex."

"Yeah, but… If you're flying to LA for the auditions, does that mean that that's where it'll be filmed?"

Alexis saw the smile on her mom's face falter. She pushed it.

"We won't have to move or anything, right? I can still live here, and go to the same school…"

"We'll see. I don't even have the part yet, remember, honey?"

"Yeah, but if you do?"

Meredith took a measured breath, which was all the answer Alexis needed. This job entailed a relocation, and the relocation, Meredith expected, entailed them both.

"I don't want to move. What about dad?" She started to panic. "What about my friends? What about—"

"Honey, let's not worry about this until we need to-"

"But this isn't fair! Have you told dad? How would that work? I wouldn't be able to see him as often or—"

"Alexis-"

Alexis' eyes welled with tears. In a time in which many of her friends' parents were divorced and they only ever saw each other on alternate holidays and summer breaks, she'd been one of the lucky ones. As lucky as one with divorced parents she could be, she imagined. And now…

She pushed the papers towards her mother and leapt off the bed. The blankets tangled around her legs almost made her trip, but she caught herself.

Alexis looked her mother square in the eyes as she swiped at her own. Her voice wavered.

"I'm not moving, and you can't make me."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: your guys' enthusiasm for the story keeps it alive, so.. _thanks_! :)**


	22. Chapter 22

The tentative knocks on her door didn't interest her enough to look up from her book. She'd read voraciously through the night, hoping the emotions of the protagonist would bleed into her dreams lest she'd be forced to dream of her own. Unfortunately, as it were, her emotions were hard to get away from. Even in sleep she was consumed by worries of what was to come.

"You have everything you need for the week?"

Alexis didn't look up to acknowledge her mother.

"Alexis, you can't ignore me forever."

"I can try," she mumbled, closing her book before shoving it roughly into her bag.

"Everyone said I would start to see a rebellious stage," her mother mused as she came to sit next to Alexis on the bed. "I only thought I had a few years left before I had to worry about you even coming near having an attitude."

Alexis shrugged off the hand her mom tried to place on her shoulder.

"Alexis, we still need to talk about this."

"There's nothing to talk about."

"It's not even a sure thing!"

Alexis threw up her hands as she leapt to her feet.

"You're a shoo-in! That's what you said! You're going to get the role and then we're going to have to move!"

"You're getting ahead of yourself. Production for a tv show is a long process, who knows what the time line for this is going to look like!"

Alexis scoffed.

"What?"

"You're not even disagreeing that we're going to have to move, which means we're going to!"

Alexis glared at Meredith, attempting to stay angry in the face of her mom's sheepish expression. Her mother wasn't used to dealing with outbursts like this, particularly because Alexis wasn't one prone to having them.

"It wouldn't be the worst timing..." She tried. "This is your last year at elementary school, you'd be starting at a new school next year anyway.."

"But with all of my friends!"

"You'll make new friends. And you'll love California, it's sunny all the time... It's like summer year round! And the beaches are great!"

With every attempt her mom made, Alexis' resentment and anger grew. Didn't what she want matter?

Meredith slowly rose from her corner of the bed. Alexis stepped back when her mom reached out to hug her. She was prevented from making another attempt when a series of knocks, louder than Meredith's had been, rang out.

"That'll be your dad," Meredith said softly.

Alexis couldn't grab her bag fast enough.

But her mother beat her to the door. Alexis was uncomfortable under her mother's scrutinizing gaze.

"Please don't say anything to your father about this yet. Not until I've had a chance to talk to him."

Alexis glowered at the request.

"Alexis, please. I'm asking you to keep this between us. For now, okay? We can discuss this more after I get back from the audition."

"You mean the table read."

Alexis threw the words back at her. They heard the knocks again, louder this time. Alexis pulled at the handle of her door and saw the muscle in her mother's jaw clench, not something she saw often.

"You know what, Alexis. I think you're being a little selfish. This could be something great-"

"Yeah, for you!"

"For _both_ of us."

Alexis rolled her eyes and pulled at the door.

Meredith allowed her a few inches.

"Between us, right?"

"Yeah, whatever."

"Alexis-"

"I said yeah," she responded hotly.

Whatever words her parents exchanged at the front door, Alexis didn't hear. She waited for her dad at the elevator. With the conversation she shared with her mom fresh enough to still echo in her head, Alexis struggled and failed to shut it out completely. It would be hard not to say anything to her dad if she didn't pull herself up real quick from this sour mood.

She felt his hand smooth the back of her head as he relieved her of her bag and pushed the already lit 'down' key for the elevator.

"Hey kiddo," he said brightly. He sounded as upbeat this morning as he'd been on the phone with Kate last night.

Her smile was weak and she hid behind the curtain of her hair as they stepped into the lift. Just as she'd assumed, she felt her father's eyes on her, sizing up her state of mind, cataloging each thing said and unsaid.

The doors opened and she didn't hesitate to step off, nor did she bother to wait for him at the entry of the building. She stepped to the curb to flag down a cab. It was something she'd grown comfortable doing in the last few months. Her dad had been the one to encourage it, and his pride made it feel like a very grown up thing to do.

Most cabs would pass her until they saw Rick standing behind her, something she'd taken personally at first, but came to accept a girl as young as she wasn't always taken as seriously as her dad took her.

By the time they climbed into the backseat of a cab, Alexis was just beginning to lose the hot feeling in the pit of her stomach. She leaned against her dad, closing her eyes as she relished the security she found in the arm he looped around her shoulder.

"What's the matter, pumpkin?" He asked after giving the cabbie the address to the loft.

She was proud when her voice didn't hitch on the word.

"Nothing."

He rubbed her arm, pulling her into him a little tighter.

"You sure? You seem grumpy"

"Just tired," she answered. A half-truth. A truth because she hadn't gotten much sleep, but not completely true because she used it as a way of omitting what she'd promised not to say.

"Stay up late reading?" He asked with a knowing smile.

Her hum was noncommittal.

He shifted from his position, reaching to pull something out of his back pocket.

"This probably won't make you feel any less tired, but I think it'll give you a little pick me up."

He handed her an envelope. "From Kate."

She squashed the flutter of excitement in her belly. She was upset. She didn't want to be cheered up. Besides, she couldn't see what the letter would hold that would change anything.

Alexis vaguely recalled the delight she'd found when she'd received her dad's text last night. And she remembered how it felt to sit in the ice cream parlor with Kate, how her attention was warm and comfortable. The flutter of excitement returned.

She slowly opened the envelope. There was a small folded piece of lined paper and a card underneath.

"The card was supposed to be in your journal, it just didn't make it in," Rick said, tapping the card with water color looking flowers splattered across the front. "She was going to mail the other one, but I told her I thought you'd be too impatient to wait for it."

Rick smiled and Alexis rolled her eyes. She read the letter first.

There were only a few lines in Kate's handwriting, some of which were hidden by a small business card. She moved the card in order to read.

_Alexis, _

_I've _so _enjoyed the past couple of months. It's been great getting to know you. You are every pen-pal's dream: smart, and insightful, and inquisitive. Keep doing what you're doing, and you'll get to wherever you set your heart on. _

_Best wishes, _

_Kate _

Alexis smiled to herself. Rick took the business card. "This has her work phone and her email, and she said…" he flipped over the card. "Yeah, she wrote down her cell number here, too."

He handed it back to her and she read the little note scrawled under the number.

_email, call, text anytime! _

"See, she'd planned on keeping in touch the entire time! Can I see this?" He asked of the card. Wordlessly, she turned it over to him to read the other note. This letter was by far Kate's shortest, but it meant the most because it was one she hadn't anticipated receiving.

_Dear Alexis, _

_I suppose our letters don't have to end just because it isn't part of your grade anymore… I think I got used to writing these letters and expecting one in the mail- the boys, too. _

_We were thinking if you still wanted to, you and your dad, or you and some friends could come to the precinct one of these days and check out where I work, like your class was originally supposed to do. Ryan and Espo already called giving you the grand tour, but I'd be along for the ride. _

_Let me know, and we can figure out a time one of these days. _

_Kate_

_PS Ask your dad how his two left feet are today. _

Alexis reread the postscript, wondering what it meant.

"Dad?"

"Hm?" He replied, folding her card and placing it back in the envelope. Kate's note had been sweet. Succinct without losing sentiment.

"How are your two left feet doing?"

The question was odd to ask, but his reaction made her grin.

His jaw fell open and he quickly shut it, clearing his throat. He shook his head. That's what she'd made him wait for in the cheesecake shop, what she'd added to the letter before they parted ways.

"I can believe she…"

"What is she talking about, dad?"

He rolled his eyes and mumbled something.

"I tripped last night, okay? The sidewalk was all messed up and I tripped on one of those cracks. You know.. The ones where the cement is like this jacked up-"

He demonstrated what he meant with his hands, exaggerating to make it seem like it was less of a clumsy issue and more of a city hazard.

Laughter bubbled within her as she pictured her father eating cement. In front of Kate, probably when he was trying to act cool.

Her laughter got her a playful push.

"It's not funny," he told her petulantly.

"Was it bad?"

"My pants ripped."

Her giggles turned to bellyaching laughs. Rick started to laugh, too. Alexis must really be tired to find something so funny to laugh so hard to the point of tears.

Alexis wiped her eyes as she said, "I bet Kate thought that was great."

"She thought it was something," he agreed.

Kate had been too polite to laugh as freely as his daughter, but he had a feeling if Alexis had been there laughing with her, she'd have had no problem ribbing him endlessly with as little mercy as his daughter was doing now.

Alexis' laughs subsided. She leaned her head against her dad as the taxi bounced on a pothole.

"I'm glad you and Kate went out."

"Really?" Rick asked. He'd been worried how she'd feel about it, his worry only growing as his time with Kate went on and his desire to ask her out again was impossible to ignore.

Alexis took his question as rhetorical and instead asked if he planned on asking her out again.

"I was thinking about it, yeah," He answered.

Alexis shifted to look up at her father. "I think you should."

Rick smiled at his daughter.

"Then that's what I'll do."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: "the most fun thing about being a fic author is when you know what's supposed to happen but when you go to write it you realise that, for the event to be plausible, you need to add another 2k of development and establish like six extra things before you can even _get_ to the scene you need to write, and by 'most fun' I mean fuck everything someone take this fucking story away from me I'm on strike" **

**straight up, the realest post I ever saw. I have a good 15 Kate/Alexis scenes (those are my favorite, okay) and plot lines I want to write, but an absurd amount of writing/development that must come before those and it's so frustrating. **

**((still totally enjoying the feedback tho, that's what makes it all worth it.. can't thank you enough! )) **


	23. Chapter 23

A week later, Alexis and Rick found themselves bound for the 12th precinct. It was Rick's last day with Alexis before he had to drop her off at her mom's later that night. Normally, their last day was quiet, both down about the close of their time together, but today was different. Alexis carried with her an undercurrent of dismay, though it was eclipsed by a much greater elation shared by her father.

Alexis had dropped hints all week.

"Have you heard from Kate?" She'd asked Saturday.

Monday, she wanted to know "Wasn't Kate's card sweet?"

Another night after dinner, they curled in bed for a Criminal Minds marathon on tv. Alexis remarked that Kate probably knew how to do the same takeout exercised by Derek Morgan. She then commented on how much she loved Derek and Penelope's friendship.

The point was, each question, each remark was said in passing. Alexis' didn't pursue further conversation past whatever response she received from her dad.

She could have asked if he would just call Kate to see if they could get together, but she wasn't sure she really wanted to. Part of her liked Kate as she was, a compilation of a handful of personal interactions and the memory of how she made Alexis feel. More than anything, she wanted to hold onto that. She was afraid to get to know her better, to realize her as anything other than what she'd become.

But past the fear of disappointment _was_ a desire to know Kate better which is why she made vague hints and mused over how busy probably was all of the time with her job. It was her father she needed to make things happen.

By Thursday, she'd let all remarks cease completely. Alexis resigned herself to not seeing Kate for lunch, or going to the place she worked, or any of the other half dozen outings she had imagined. And with her resignation came the familiar dejection over leaving her father. Guilt led her to reminding herself how much she loved her mom. Of course she loved her. She just also loved spending time with her father. She was sure a lot other kids her age felt the same way when it came to having to bounce between homes on different weekends, alternate holidays, the only real structure being a lack of one.

Alexis was also nervous to go home. Six days was a lot of time to think and it afforded her a distance the heat of her and her mother's argument hadn't. Right or wrong, whether she agreed with her mom or not, how she'd acted embarrassed Alexis. Maybe she _was_ being selfish. Her mom loved and supported her in whatever Alexiswanted to do, why couldn't Alexis do the same?

She tried to console herself with the fact that her mom had even said it wasn't a sure thing, and that she promised that if it were, it was something they would talk about.

As much as Alexis had wanted to tell her father in those first five minutes he'd picked her up, and in the cab, and especially when he was tucking her in, she was glad she didn't. The burning desire to spit out what pained her faded. She was relieved that she'd narrowly avoided the likelihood of only making things worse. If there was one thing she disliked more than the fact that her parents weren't in love and happily together, it was having to listen to them list off why they were separated every time they disagreed about something.

If one of them had pissed of the other, she always heard about it. Rarely was she exposed to full-blown rants or accusatory commentary, but sometimes it was a passing remark that did the most damage. As those seemed to be said carelessly, unconsciously.

So, although she had to cope with the fear of sweeping change in the not so distant future by herself, it was probably better that way.

Sunday morning, Alexis, still half asleep, poured herself a bowl of cereal and joined her father at the kitchen table. Eyes closed and head propped up on one hand, Alexis slowly munched on the fruit loops.

"Assuming you don't fall asleep in that bowl of cereal first, after you're finished you should hop in the shower and start getting ready," her dad said, taking a sip of his coffee.

Alexis cracked an eye as she finished the bite of cereal she was currently working on.

"Why?"

Rick looked at her over the top of his newspaper.

"Thought we'd go visit a certain someone today."

Alexis took another bite of cereal. The fog was starting to lift as she began to wake up more fully.

"Who?" she asked. "Grams?"

"No, there's only so much of that woman I can take," he teased. "Someone else."

The next spoonful of fruit loops made it exactly halfway to her mouth and stopped. Milk dripped on the table as she stared back at her dad.

She cocked her head and he smiled.

The spoon returned to its bowl as her face broke into a grin.

"Kate?"

"You're not as subtle as you think you are, little miss," he said, referring to her commentary throughout the week.

Alexis would have blushed had she not been inundated with a multitude of other emotions. She pushed away from the table and carried her mostly, but not quite, finished bowl to the sink.

"I told her we'd be in around 11—" Rick called after her as she took the stairs two at a time. He heard the faint click of a door as it shut and the shower start to not long after.

A few hours and some errands later, Rick and Alexis were finally on their way.

xx

"Do you want to take him or do you want me and Javi to?"

Kate looked at her watch. She had some time, but not much.

"I know Alexis and Rick will be here soon…"

Kate stared at Ryan for a few seconds.

"I'll do it," she said. "If they get here before I'm finished, you and Javi can show them around."

Ryan nodded and Kate pulled the door to the interrogation room open.

Esposito joined him in the viewing room a few minutes later. They watch in silence as Kate did what she did best.

Every so often, one of them would murmur something, pointing out a discrepancy, a lie, some minute shift in body language. Both had completely forgotten they were to be on the lookout for their special visitors.

There was a sharp rap on the door and they both looked up. Captain Montgomery stood in the doorway. He cast a momentary gaze towards the glass window into the interrogation room, but his focus quickly snapped back to his other two detectives.

"You two- weren't you supposed to be waiting for someone, or, more specifically, two someones?"

Both Ryan and Espo's face morphed for a split second into matching uh-oh expressions as they remembered.

They followed their Captain out of the small room and into the precinct's waiting area. Ryan and Esposito recognized Alexis and her father immediately. Rick was busy reading plaques on the wall and Alexis was looking everywhere but. She took in the comings and the goings of everyone she saw and recognized the two detectives almost as quickly as they had.

"They waiting long?" Ryan asked.

"Five minutes or so," Montgomery replied before clearing his throat and introducing himself to Rick.

"Hello, Mr. Castle—" Rick spun around at his name and quickly offered his hand. "I'm Captain Montgomery, and you already are familiar with these two, I believe," he said, motioning to Ryan and Esposito.

"And you must be Alexis," he said turning to Rick's daughter. "I have to say, it is an absolute _pleasure _to finally get to meet you; I've heard a lot about you from my detectives."

Alexis blushed as she shook his hand. She resisted the urge to step closer to her father like she'd done when she was little. Almost in middle school and still overwhelming shy in front of most adults.

Montgomery, having two daughters of his own, was familiar with her reaction. Not wanting to make her feel embarrassed or uncomfortable, he welcomed them to follow Ryan and Esposito for a quick tour.

"Where's Kate?" Alexis asked as she and her father followed them.

"Having a nice one on one with someone," Esposito said before pointing out which desks were his, and his partners. He had a whole tour planned out in his head; he'd taken showing off their precinct seriously.

Ryan was quick to clarify what his partner meant.

"She's in questioning someone right now."

"Like an interrogation?" She asked.

Ryan had purposely avoided the aggressively connoted word.

"That is exactly what that is," Esposito replied with an impressed nod. He flashed her an impish grin. "Wanna see?"

Alexis lit up, looking up to find her father had had a similar response.

Ryan watched as they trailed behind Esposito. He shook his head thinking Kate probably wouldn't be too thrilled with him.

Rick and Alexis were similarly quiet as they watched the woman they had both come to see ruthlessly expose and exploit every weakness. They'd grown so still, they were on the verge of holding their breath when the guy seated in the chair across from Kate broke down, admitting his guilt.

With her back to the observation window, neither the boys nor Alexis could see her satisfied expression. His admission was not one of sorrow or regret, but of a nasty, brutish anger, most of which was directed at Kate. She'd found and taken advantage of his weaknesses, outsmarting him in more ways than one. It angered him to no end and the muscles in his arms rippled as he clenched his fists.

He swore at Kate as she glibly wished him a miserable rest of his life in prison and walked out without a backwards glance.

"See, that didn't take too long," Kate said to her partners as she walked into the observation room. When her eyes lifted from the folder she'd shut, she saw Rick and Alexis.

"Rick…Alexis.."

Rick wondered if he'd managed to shake himself of the embarrassing childlike awe as he smiled at her. It had been like watching a mastermind play chess. Each move calculated, each action setting up for another in the future.

Alexis on the other hand looked wildly unsure. The woman in the interrogation room was nothing like the Kate who wrote her letters or ate ice-cream next to her while she told stories.

Though hurt by her hesitant expression, but Kate didn't let it show. She looked over at her partners who caught the brief flicker of annoyance.

"That was… awesome!" Rick said after a moment. He raised his hand high in the air and Kate reluctantly high fived him. He turned to his daughter. "Better than Morgan, and Hotch, and all of 'em put together, huh?"

This prompted a smile and Alexis slowly nodded. It was both impressive and unnerving. Kate had never seemed intimidating before, but now, Alexis was a little put off. She wondered which Kate was the real one.

"Here, we can go sit in the break room and catch up…" Kate said. She looked over her shoulder as she led them to the small break room. "Did the boys already show you around?"

Alexis nodded."Yeah..Much more modern and chic than I thought it would be." Her father said before quickly adding- "No offense!"

Kate gave a small smile as she said, "None taken."

Rick and Alexis sat in the only two chairs and Kate, Ryan and Espo stood around. They idly chatted about this and that, mostly guy stuff Kate had no interest in. She instead focused her attention and energy on bringing Alexis back around.

It was like starting all over. Kate wondered if she would be this shy in the beginning every time she'd see her.

"How's school going?" Kate asked.

"Okay.."

"Yeah? Only okay? What've you been learning?"

Alexis stopped and genuinely thought. When the weekend came, she hardly thought about school, unless she had a project to complete or a test to prepare for. And this past week was mostly a blur; a lot of her energy had been on her mom, and California and moving.

"We've mostly just been reviewing," she said after a moment. "A lot of kids in my class didn't do very well on the last test, so Ms. Blake's just been going over things."

"So I'm guessing you did really well the first time around, huh?"

Alexis smiled as she nodded.

"Then I reckon it's been pretty boring for you, all this review."

"A little," Alexis admitted. "But even though I know it, it's probably good to review so I don't forget."

"That is a really good way to look at it, Alexis."

Their conversation faltered before failing completely. They both turned to the boys who were in an animated discussion regarding to who knew what. More focused on her own thoughts, most of them having to do with Alexis' hesitancy to warm up, she was caught off guard when Esposito asked her a question.

"Can we?!"

She looked from Esposito to Ryan and then to Rick, all of whom regarded her with the same eager expression.

"Can you what?" she asked, worried she wouldn't like the question.

"Show him the evidence room!" Esposito said in an uncharacteristically expressive voice.

"Javi wants to show him that sword that medieval era nut used in those homicides a few months back." Ryan explained.

The expressions they wore were simultaneously ridiculous and endearing. She waved a hand. "Go for it." She looked at Rick. "Just… don't touch anything."

The boys whooped as they departed and Kate turned to Alexis. "You want to go with the boys?" She asked, hoping she'd say no. There was a lot in there she'd feel better knowing Alexis had avoided seeing. With Rick, she didn't really care because he was a grown man; with Alexis, it was different.

Kate was relieved when Alexis shook her head. She looked around, feigning an interest in even the most trivial things like the decrepit coffee machine, which was making its usual weird series of noises.

"You're really quiet today," Kate said, watching Alexis take note of everything in the room.

Alexis didn't hold her gaze but instead focused on scratching flecks of old coffee stains on the table.

"Is it because you saw me in the interrogation?"

Alexis said nothing which somehow translated to everything. Kate had heard on many occasions how formidable a force she was in the box. She'd been described as ruthless and fierce, two qualities she'd rather prided herself on. It made her good at what she did. She intimidated people with her intensity which is what she feared she had inadvertently done in this case.

"I'm sorry," she said, not knowing what else to say. She wished she'd just agreed to meet them for lunch instead of inviting them here. "This was a mistake."

She moved to get up, to call back Rick and her partners but Alexis stopped her.

"No.. I.."

Kate slowly sunk back in her seat.

"I'm glad we came. I'm just…" Alexis looked down as she admitted, "You make me kind of nervous."

If Kate didn't know the fragility of the moment, she might have laughed. Her admission stung, in a way, and was also ludicrous. Granted, she was a force to be reckoned with in the interrogation room, but Alexis hadn't seen her trip while walking up the stairs, or eat ice-cream for dinner because she wasn't actually a fully-functioning adult most of the time. She didn't know Kate was a sap when it came to movies or that she sometimes sang karaoke in bars for fun. So far, most of Alexis' view of Kate had been limited to the tough exterior.

Kate decided she would peel it back, just a little.

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><p><strong>AN: the feedback makes my heart happy :) I'm glad to see a lot of you seem to be as excited about Kate/Alexis moments as I am.. I'm looking SUPER forward to getting to those more. **

**((ps I hope Alexis' reaction makes sense. It's hard when you really like/admire someone and want that connection but are simultaneously intimidated by them and constantly question if they like you or not))**


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